Prosafe - Product Safety Enforcement Forum of Europe

EMARS-II

Organisation of the EMARS-II Project

EMARS II is being carried out by members of PROSAFE with generous support from the European Commission. EFTA and other member states have also contributed financially to the project. Twenty-one members of PROSAFE are having their participation in the project supported financially, nineteen from the EU and two from EFTA. Arrangements for countries outside the financial scheme to also participate in the project are also being made. PROSAFE is taking the lead in managing the project and is the contracting party with the Commission on behalf of the participating member states The project is set to run through the end of 2011.

The following themes, divided into specific t asks, have also been identified:

(click on each heading for more information)
Core Coordination Tasks
Task A. Best Practice
Task B. Management and Planning of Future Joint Actions and Coordinated Market Surveillance Activities
Task C. Risk Assessment
Task D. Market surveillance guidance material for external stakeholders
Task E. Training
Task F. Continuous improvement of national market surveillance programmes
Task G. Standards related activities
Task H. Liaison with Notified Bodies

Additional information can be found on the following PROSAFE-EMARS website.

Main Objectives, Goals & Tasks
The overall objective of the EMARS-II project is to further enhance the market surveillance of non-food consumer products in Europe. This is to be achieved through the practical application and further fine-tuning of the best practice developed originally by the EMARS-I project. The project also seeks to further capitalise on the improved climate for collaboration amongst national market surveillance authorities that the current EMARS-I project has contributed to. EMARS II will provide a framework for closer collaboration within which future joint actions and coordinated activities on specific products and other market surveillance related issues can be identified. Each task will have a number of EMARS-II participating organisations working to achieve the particular goals and objectives within that task.

The specific goals of this ambitious project includes:

Developing a more rigorous and systematic approach to the identification and execution of joint actions
Promoting a more consistent approach to market surveillance through the development of best practice and a training programme for market surveillance officials in the field of consumer product safety
Ensuring adequate liaison between market surveillance authorities and standards development
Improving collaboration with Customs officials through networking opportunities and the identification of best practice
Improving operational level collaboration with relevant enforcement authorities outside the EEA