AUSTRIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Andreas Eustacchio, EUSTACCHIO
1. Product Safety 1.1 Product Safety Legal Framework
Food Safety and Consumer Protection Act 2006 (LMSVG). 1.2 Regulatory Authorities for Product Safety The key regulatory authority is the Federal Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs, Health and Consumer Pro - tection ( Bundesministerium für Soziales , Gesundheit , Pflege und Konsumentenschutz ). Market surveillance and inspections are carried out in co-operation with the provincial authorities for non- food and the AGES (Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety) for food products. 1.3 Obligations to Commence Corrective Action “Corrective action” is defined in the EU-Market Sur - veillance Regulation (2019/1020) and refers to any measure an economic operator takes to address and resolve a product safety or compliance issue, whether following a request from a market surveillance author - ity or on its own initiative – eg, warnings, withdrawal, recall, online delisting. The Blue Guide interprets and illustrates these cor - rective measures, explaining the differences between these corrective measures and how they are used in practice. The GPSR does not contain a specific definition of “corrective action”, but the term should be interpret - ed in line with the above-mentioned framework. The GPSR lays down binding rules on when economic operators and market surveillance authorities must adopt corrective measures and what these measures must achieve. Relevant criteria: corrective measures must be tailored to the level and nature of the risk, must be effective and proportionate in reducing or eliminating that risk, must be taken without undue delay, and must be accompanied by clear and adequate communication so that consumers can protect themselves. Economic operators and authorities must use effective means of communication, which can include targeted notices, for example via retailers, websites, emails, online platforms, and, where necessary, broader pub -
The European Union (EU) General Product Safety Regulation 2023/988 (GPSR) is the main law. It is in force in all EU countries for non-food products put on the market as from 1 December 2024. It covers prod - ucts intended for consumers or likely to be used by consumers under reasonably foreseeable conditions. For non-food consumer products put on the market before 13 December 2024, the Austrian law on prod - uct safety, Produktsicherheitsgesetz 2004 (PSG 2024), remains applicable. Hence, for consumer products, two sets of rules may apply in parallel. For non-consumer products, the EU-Market Surveil - lance Regulation (2019/1020) applies, unless there are specific provisions with the same objective in the EU harmonised legislation which regulate market surveil - lance and enforcement in a more specific manner. Annex I of this EU-Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 lists around 70 of these sector-specific Union harmoni - sation acts for particular product groups, such as machinery, electrical equipment, electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) of equipment, toys, medical devices, explosives for civil use, measuring instru - ments, marine equipment and automotive-type approval, and many more. Where a sectoral act has specific market surveillance provisions, those specific rules prevail (lex specialis), otherwise the aforemen - tioned EU-Regulation 2019/1020 applies. • EU-Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2024/3173 supplements the GPSR by laying down the criteria and rules for assessing the level of risk of consumer products and for certain Safety Gate notifications. • The EU-Blue Guide on the implementation of EU product rules 2022, not a product safety act in itself, but a non-binding guidance document (soft law) that explains how EU product safety and prod - uct compliance legislation should be interpreted and applied in practice. • For food there is a special food law safety regime in the EU: The General Food Law Regu - lation 178/2002, supplemented by the Austrian
34 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook