What is the EU Safety Gate? How does it relate to Product Safety and is it something you should be aware of as a product development business who sells products in the EU?

Becoming an industry leader involves understanding product risks, and employing a range of tools to help you do that.

What is Safety Gate?
Safety Gate is the rapid alert system for dangerous non-food products in the EU. It is the system through which all non-food product Recalls are processed through.

How does it work?
National market surveillance authorities (the relevant authority in each EU market + Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein) monitor products to check they meet EU requirements. If a national authority detects a dangerous product on the market, it may ban or restrict its sale, stop it at the border or order for it to be recalled. When one national authority takes such a measure, it has to inform all the other countries in the EU, which happens through Safety Gate. The Safety Gate rapid alert enables swift and effective action to be taken across the EU when a dangerous product is found.

What products are covered?
Safety Gate alerts cover consumer products and products for professional use but excludes pharmaceuticals, medical devices, food or animal feed (which have their own alert systems).

What types of safety risks are commonly covered?
Threats to human health and safety, such as choking, strangulation and damage to hearing or sight, or various hazards caused by chemicals. Products that pose a security risk or risks to the environment.

How are dangerous products found?
National authorities carry out inspections and test products on the market under their national market surveillance programmes. They also act on any complaints or information they receive about the possible presence of dangerous products on the market. Additionally, where manufacturers, retailers, importers or other businesses become aware they have inadvertently placed dangerous products on the market, they must report this to the authorities.

How are incidents reported?
A web portal called Safety Business Gateway is available for this purpose. As from 13 December 2024, its use will be compulsory.

Who uses the Safety Gate system?
National authorities from 30 countries (EU Member States, plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway) enter information on Safety Gate in the form of alerts on a daily basis.

What information is recorded?
The alerts contain information about the product, the risks it poses, and the measures taken to stop it or restrict its sale. The measures can be imposed by the authorities (compulsory measures) or taken directly by the economic operators (voluntary measures).

How is each country notified?
National authorities are responsible for monitoring the alerts in the system and checking whether the product identified as dangerous is also for sale in their own country. They are required to report on the results of their checks with a follow-up notification on the Safety Gate. The notifications report any additional measures taken and any additional information available e.g. on distribution channels and affected batches. The public website is updated to show in which countries the product has been found and additional measures taken.

What about online market places?
Online marketplaces that have signed the Product Safety Pledge also check the Safety Gate to make sure they are not selling dangerous products online. The Pledge also commits them to remove such products from their listings within 2 days when requested by a national authority. In those cases, that measure is also inputted on Safety Gate in the form of a follow-up notification

What did the 2023 Safety Gate report show?
In 2023, there was a very high number of alerts due to increased market surveillance activity of national authorities. In particular market surveillance enforcement authorities increased their monitoring of cosmetics to check for the presence of banned dangerous chemical ingredients due to the enforcement of impactful restrictions of chemicals under REACH. As a result, ‘Cosmetics’ was the product category with most alerts rather than ‘Toys’ and ‘Motor vehicles’ which were top previously.

Source: Safety Gate 2023 Results

What were the most prevalent product risks identified in 2023?
The increase in the monitoring of cosmetic products has also caused an increase in alerts signalling chemical risks. Most of the cosmetics notified were reported to contain 2-(4-tert-butylbenzyl) propionaldehyde (BMHCA), a synthetic fragrance ingredient widely used in different types of cosmetics that has been banned from the EU market as of 1 March 2022. Dangerous chemicals were also detected in electronic devices. Examples include lead in solders and the presence of short chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs) in cables. There were also still many alerts reporting e-cigarettes with an excessive concentration of nicotine, and plastic dolls and other toys and accessories containing plastic softening phthalates, even though these substances in this type of product have been fully banned since 2019.

Source: Safety Gate 2023 Results

Why should I monitor Safety Gate as a product developer or supplier in or to the EU or elsewhere?
Reviewing product recalls of products similar to yours or of risks that have the potential to be found in your products under certain situations, can be helpful input to your product risk assessments and continuous improvement programs. Market expectations can change overtime and what might be considered acceptable at one point in time can change as new information comes to light. Reviewing product recall information will help you to spot trends and pre-empt potential legislation or standards changes that are likely to occur overtime as they are updated to address newly identified risks.

Don’t have time to monitor Safety Gate or similar databases used in other markets? Talk to us about receiving a customised monthly report summarising key information pertinent to your product development business and product range.

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