RAPEX- CHINA

RAPEX-CHINA
PART 1: Overview of reports 1-12
Twelve quarterly reports received from AQSIQ1 cover enforcement actions taken with regard
to RAPEX notifications exchanged via the 'RAPEX-CHINA' system between September 2006
(when the application was established) and November 2010.
So far, AQSIQ has investigated and, where necessary, adopted measures in relation to 1110
RAPEX notifications2 out of 4766 stored in the "RAPEX-CHINA" database3. Analyses of the
received reports show that AQSIQ investigates on average 90 RAPEX cases over a threemonth
period.
Notifications investigated by AQSIQ per quarterly report
103
70 70
121
104
113
184
84 89
75 75
92
86
0
40
80
120
160
200
Report
I & II
Report
III
Report
IV
Report
V
Report
VI
Report
VII
Report
VIII
Report
IX
Report
X
Report
XI
Report
XII
(Investigations started in the period of reference; Investigations completed in the period of reference)
1AQSIQ – General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine is responsible
for market surveillance activities taken in relation to consumer products (http://english.aqsiq.gov.cn/)
2 It should be stressed that AQSIQ focuses its market surveillance actions only on new notifications and does not
take follow-up actions on notifications sent before 2006, when the enhanced cooperation between the EU and
China began. This is because in many of the old cases, measures could not be taken for objective reasons, such
as non-existence of the responsible Chinese manufacturer/exporter or because the manufacturing process had
ceased.
3 Number of notifications stored in the "RAPEX-CHINA" system on 27.04.2010.
The recent "RAPEX-CHINA" follow-up reports submitted to the Health and
Consumers Directorate-General of the European Commission (DG SANCO) by Chinese
authorities (AQSIQ) show that export bans and strengthened supervision over Chinese
companies involved in the manufacturing and/or exporting of dangerous goods are the
most frequently taken measures. Furthermore, the most recent (12th) report presents a
further decrease (from 26% to 17%) in the number of cases where a Chinese
manufacturer and/or an exporter could not be found.
2
The recent reports show an increase in the number of investigations completed over a threemonth
period. Under the 9th-12th reports, AQSIQ investigated on average 110 cases per report,
compared to only 70 under the 7th and 8th reports.
Furthermore, in 616 cases (56%) investigations resulted in preventive and restrictive measures
adopted either by AQSIQ or taken voluntarily by a Chinese manufacturer/exporter, while in
494 investigated cases (44%) no measures were ordered.
Actions taken by AQSIQ (total figures)
Export bans (28%) and strengthened supervision over Chinese companies involved in the
manufacturing and/or exporting of dangerous goods (14%), are still the most frequently taken
measures.
Export bans prevents further export of dangerous consumer products of Chinese origin to the
EU and thus complements measures taken by European market surveillance and customs
authorities. Strengthening of supervision often takes place when no samples of a notified
dangerous product are left at the premises of the responsible Chinese companies or its
manufacture has already stopped and thus no export ban can be imposed by AQSIQ.
Strengthening of supervision often results in more frequent and stringent controls and product
checks performed by AQSIQ.
1110 NOTIFICATIONS
MEASURES ADOPTED – 616
(56%)
MEASURES NOT ADOPTED – 494
(44%)
EXPORT STOPPED BY AQSIQ OR
BY MANUFACTURER – 299
(28%)
STRENGTHENED SUPERVISION -
156 (14%)
MANUFACTURER COULD
NOT BE FOUND – 271
(24%)
DIFFERENT RISK ASSESSMENT– 41
(4%)
OTHER- 182
(16%)
CORRECTIVE ACTIONS – 134
(12%)
OTHER – 27
(2%)
3
Export bans per quarterly report
26%
17%
44%
26%
28%
5%
17%
29%
24%
35%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
Report
III
Report
IV
Report
V
Report
VI
Report
VII
Report
VIII
Report
IX
Report
X
Report
XI
Report
XII
Export bans & Strengthened supervision per quarterly report
5%
28%
26%
17%
44%
25% 26%
12%
18%
8%
15%
17%
29%
24%
35%
6% 7% 13%
27%
30%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
Report
III
Report
IV
Report
V
Report
VI
Report
VII
Report
VIII
Report
IX
Report X Report
XI
Report
XII
(Strengthen supervision over the Chinese companies; export bans)
In 44% of 1110 investigated cases, no measures were taken, mainly because a responsible
Chinese manufacturer/exporter could not be found (24%). The following two reasons stem
from the received reports:
• First of all, Member States do not always provide accurate information about Chinese
companies involved in manufacturing and/or exporting dangerous products found on
the EU market. This is often due to (a) limited resources which do not allow national
authorities to deeply investigate this particular aspect of a case, (b) the fact that
information about Chinese companies is not always available (e.g. there is no mention
4
on the product or its packaging, or there are no orders, invoices or shipping documents
mentioning responsible Chinese companies), (c) the fact that information on Chinese
companies provided on a product, its packaging or in documents attached, is
sometimes false.
• Secondly, transmission of data about responsible Chinese companies by Member
States does not always guarantee that AQSIQ will adopt any measures. In certain
cases, measures cannot be adopted because (a) Chinese companies have not kept all
relevant documents (orders, contracts, invoices, etc.) which could prove their role in
manufacturing and/or exporting of dangerous products, (b) products were
manufactured and exported outside applicable official procedures, thus transactions
were not registered and they cannot be traced, (c) Chinese companies have changed
their location or have already closed their business (e.g. bankruptcy).
Cases where Chinese manufacturer/exporter could not be found per quarterly report
15%
20%
30%
26%
17%
22%
26%
21%
12%
34%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
Report
III
Report
IV
Report
V
Report
VI
Report
VII
Report
VIII
Report
IX
Report
X
Report
XI
Report
XII
PART 2: Detailed summary of the 12th report
The 12th report submitted by AQSIQ contains conclusions of investigations carried out with
regard to 103 notifications, including 85 notifications transmitted through the RAPEX-CHINA
application between September to November 2009 and 18 notifications between January and
August 2010.
In 50 cases (48%*), investigations resulted in preventive or restrictive measures being
adopted, either by AQSIQ or voluntarily by a Chinese manufacturer/exporter.
• In 26 cases (26%*) export of dangerous consumer products was stopped, including 13
cases where actions were taken voluntarily by Chinese manufacturers;
• In 9 cases (8%*), Chinese manufacturers applied corrective actions, i.e. modified the
design of a product so that it would comply with European safety requirements;
• In 15 cases (15%*), AQSIQ strengthened its supervision over Chinese manufacturers.
5
In 53 cases (52%*), no measures were adopted.
• In 18 cases (18%*), action could not be taken mainly because AQSIQ could not find
Chinese companies responsible for manufacturing and/or exporting of dangerous
products;
• In 7 cases (7%*), a Chinese manufacturer no longer existed when AQSIQ carried out
its investigation (e.g. bankruptcy);
• In 9 cases (9%*), manufacturing or export of a reported product had been stopped;
• In 4 cases (4%*), AQSIQ presented a different risk evaluation;
• In 15 cases (14%*), measures were not adopted for other reasons.
* % of all 103 investigations completed by AQSIQ in the period of reference.
The 13th report from AQSIQ, covering the period from December 2009 to February 2010, is
expected in June/July 2010.