26 October 2002S.Ahvenainen/MTI UNECE FORUM ON MARKET SURVEILLANCE, Geneva 29 October 2002 Market Surveillance in the European Union. Experience of a Member State: Finland Mr. Seppo Ahvenainen, Deputy Director General, Ministry of Trade and Industry, Finland

26 October 2002S.Ahvenainen/MTI History … Basic structure: from the beginning of the 1990’s The EU membership of Finland in 1995 Basis: Relevant Single Market rules and principles Continuous development: based on changes in regulation and refocusing needs

26 October 2002S.Ahvenainen/MTI 338,000 sq. km 5,2 million people Capital Helsinki 2 languages Finnish Swedish GDP per capita 2000* FIM 149,000, USD 23,000 a member of the European Union UN, OECD, WTO Finland 3/2001

26 October 2002S.Ahvenainen/MTI Basic characteristics and objectives… To ensure that products entering into the Finnish market meet relevant health, safety and environmental requirements Scope of the market surveillance concept –EU regulation (New Approach/CE-marking regime,…) –National non-harmonised regulation Pre-market control: Manufacturer’s responsibility Market surveillance in the EU: Based on national surveillance systems (subsidiarity) Finnish system is a piece in the EU ”jig-saw puzzle”

26 October 2002S.Ahvenainen/MTI

26 October 2002S.Ahvenainen/MTI …basic characteristics and objectives… Organisational model depends on –the legal framework, –administrative structure (central/regional/local) –geographic characteristics –properties of the products (physical, chemical,…) Distinctive roles and competencies of various parties –legislator (competent ministries,..) –surveillance authority –conformity assessment bodies (incl. notified bodies) –businessess (incl. manufacturers)

26 October 2002S.Ahvenainen/MTI …basic characteristics and objectives Dimensioning depends on –industrial structure –structure and size of the product market –available surveillance resources (financing, personnel, competence, …) => Each country has its own optimum system! (Table 1: “Case Finland”)

26 October 2002S.Ahvenainen/MTI Performance aspects Cooperation a key to performance –National level within each product sector across the product sectors across the administrative levels focal point –Supra national level (”Community level”) within each product sectors across the product sectors –Benchmarking and best practices

26 October 2002S.Ahvenainen/MTI Practical surveillance work … SAMPLING/ BYING PRODUCTS TESTING EVALUATION DECISIONREACTIONS (incl. penalties) DELIVERY BAN SALES BAN RECALL EU NOTIFICATION HEARING Typical operative steps REMARK

26 October 2002S.Ahvenainen/MTI Practical surveillance work … SAMPLING STRATEGY Selection of product is based on –Information from the market –Information from other authorities –Accident and incident statistics –Experience from market surveillance results –Information from other countries (notifications/information)

26 October 2002S.Ahvenainen/MTI Practical surveillance work … TEST RESULTS: electrical &emc

26 October 2002S.Ahvenainen/MTI Practical surveillance work … TESTS AND REACTIONS: electrical & emc

26 October 2002S.Ahvenainen/MTI Practical surveillance work … MARKET SURVEILLANCE RESULTS:Electrical &emc (Note: the share of defective products less 1 % of total set)

26 October 2002S.Ahvenainen/MTI Practical surveillance work … REACTIONS BY TYPE: electrical &emc