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Consumer policy

Consumer Product Safety

 

 OECD work on consumer product safety aims to improve co-operation amongst jurisdictions. The focus of its mandate is on improving information sharing and promoting greater co-operation among product safety market surveillance, enforcement, and regulatory authorities worldwide by: 

 

  • Identifying safety issues early
  • Sharing practices and policy law developments
  • Addressing safety concerns in a consistent way
  • Supporting global and regional fora

 

OECD Recommendation on Consumer Product Safety


The Recommendation on Consumer Product Safety, adopted by the OECD Council in July 2020, outlines the key elements that should be at the core of consumer product safety frameworks at domestic and international levels. Notably, it calls for frameworks that:

 

  • provide for a consumer right to safe products and rapid alerts when unsafe products are on the market or are the subject of a ban or a recall;
  • are informed by sound evidence and data sources, including, if possible, through the establishment of injury data collection systems, the development of systematic risk management and assessment approaches that are comparable from one country to another, information sharing activities and awareness initiatives;
  • pay specific attention to vulnerable consumers.


The Recommendation has a level of built-in flexibility which ensures its continued relevance and applicability across a variety of contexts, including in relation to product safety issues emerging from e-commerce, new technologies, and the COVID-19 crisis.

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Communiqué on product safety pledges 


In recent years, a number of consumer product safety authorities have established product safety pledges with online marketplaces to better protect consumers from the risk of unsafe products on those platforms. This communiqué aims to encourage the development of further such pledges at domestic and regional levels, and to identify the key commitments for inclusion.

 

Product Recalls

 


OECD GlobalRecalls portal: regularly updated database of product recalls from around the world

Effective presentation of product recall information on websites and apps (2022)

Policy guidance on maximising product recall effectiveness (2020)

Enhancing product recall effectiveness globally (2018)

Measuring and maximising the impact of product recalls globally (2018)

 

Awareness Campaigns

  awareness word


Put product safety first: OECD online product safety sweep
(November-December 2022)

Safety of toys sold online (2020)

Product recalls (2019) | Safety of products sold online (2018)

Furniture tip-overs (2017) | Window covering cord safety (2016)

Laundry detergent capsules (2015) | Button battery safety (2014)

 

 Online Product Safety

 keyboard safety 


Online product safety awareness campaign
(#SafeProductsOnline) (2018)

Online product safety: Trends and challenges (2016)

Online product safety sweep results (2016)

 

 

New Technologies

 


 (2019)

Consumer product safety in the Internet of Things (2018)

Consumer policy and the smart home (2018)

It's smart, but is it safe?
Joint OECD/EC conference on IoT, AI and product safety (November 2018)
programme (pdf) | watch the replay

Policy Developments

Hands with flags


Australia
   Canada

Japan   Korea

New Zealand   United States

EU  

Risk Assessment

Risk


International consumer product safety risk assessment practices
 (2016)

Product risk assessment practices of regulatory agencies (2016)

 

 

Earlier reports 

 

Related Documents