MEPs want to strengthen product safety across the EU, but member state objections over a mandatory “made-in” labelling requirement could stall reforms.

Safety first…but not quite yet

https://api.multimedia.europarl.europa.eu/documents/20125/11790816/n001-140416-001-en.srt

A simple wish for a parent  for toys like this to be safe for their child.

But a staggering 99.7% of all products  entering the internal market go unchecked.

0.3% of goods on the EU market  are checked by the authorities, it’s nothing.

It's difficult to find the dangerous products  so we need to improve this situation.

An EU rapid alert system  has been in place since 2010,

but 10% of faulty goods identified  can’t be traced back to manufacturers.

A new regulation has passed the first post  of approval at the plenary in Strasbourg.

The first key change: setting up  a Pan-European database on dodgy gear,

more stringent checks  on child-related products

But one sticking point  is mandatory country-of-origin labelling.

The majority say it will boost transparency,  traceability and end unfair competition.

But for the Liberals, when an EU-wide  quality CE mark already exists,

The EU safety tested marking,  a type of CE+ marking

is placing huge additional bureaucracy costs  on SMEs in particular

in part to test absolutely safe products.

But the argument over origin,  or 'made-in' labelling is a distraction.

A number of yesterday's speeches talked  about 'made-in' in terms of economics,

economic importance to the EU economy,  they aren't part of consumer product safety.

A message from consumer groups  was to stop bickering

as the changes tabled  will make drastic change.

A lot of non-EU products will in the future  be taken off the market earlier

so they won't reach consumers.  This is good for them and manufacturers

who invest a lot in the safety of products.

But until States give it their backing,  both may have a wait ahead.