Ensuring safety of imported products

A recent report from Rapid Alert System for non-food consumer products stated that the number of dangerous products imported to the EU from China increased dramatically during 2005.

A recent report from RAPEX (Rapid Alert System for non-food consumer products) stated that the number of dangerous products available in the EU increased dramatically during 2005.

The report particularly focussed on the safety of products being imported from China.

In recognition of this growing concern, Bureau Veritas Consumer Products Services (BVCPS), global leader in consumer product testing, inspections and auditing services, is providing its customers with the opportunity to test imported products at source, with the benefits of high level of UK support.

BVCPS can provide UK importers with a fully-integrated global service to ensure product conformity to both regulatory and performance requirements.

The company has multiple state-of-the-art testing facilities across the Far East, enabling retailers who import from this region to both inspect and test their products at source, while being supported by BVCPS's UK offices and accredited laboratories.

Through RAPEX, national authorities identify products presenting a serious risk to the health and safety of consumers, with the exception of food, pharmaceutical and medical products.

More than half of the serious risk notifications in the 2005 report were from toys and electrical appliances, while 32% of the notifications identified electric shock as the main danger.

Testing products at source provides importers with numerous benefits, including enhanced development cycles, speeding up the entire testing process and the elimination of unnecessary transport charges for unsatisfactory goods.

The proximity of the testing facility to the local manufacturer also allows for straightforward liaison during the testing stage, for example if support is required to assist in product development.

In addition BVCPS provides its customers with an established intranet system (BVcpnet) which allows UK customers to access their own personalised section on the Web site.

BVcpnet provides specific details of products being tested in the Far East, for example who sent them to be tested and when they arrived, as well as an archive of all previous test certificates and reports.

Alan Kirwilliam, director of sales and marketing at BVCPS Manchester, commented: "In general I do not think that there is an increasing danger to consumers from products, which originate from China".

"Instead I believe that the findings in this report are a consequence of the RAPEX system being used by more enforcement authorities.

Any businesses who are thinking of sourcing products from the Far East should really be covering themselves by ensuring anything they import has already been tested to all relevant standards at source.

* About Bureau Veritas Consumer Products Services - Bureau Veritas Consumer Products Services now offers over 60 full service laboratories and locations in 40 countries, supported by 4000 employees.

The Company provides an extensive range of specialised services for the consumer product and retail markets, social accountability auditing, risk assessment and training.

About Bureau Veritas Bureau Veritas is a service company specializing in QHSE management (quality, health, safety and environment) and social accountability, with a network that covers 140 countries and includes more than 600 offices and laboratories, supported by over 20,000 employees.

It offers an extensive range of technical services and solutions in the fields of certification, conformity assessment, training and consulting.

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