About us
Market Surveillance Agency of Bosnia and Herzegovina was established by the Law on Market Surveillance in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Official Gazette of BiH, 45/04, 44/07 and 102/09).
The Agency is an autonomous administrative organisation, it has legal personality, and it is accountable to the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina for its work. The head office of the Agency is situated in Istočno Sarajevo.
By adopting the Law on Market Surveillance and the Law on General Product Safety (Official Gazette of BiH, 102/09), Bosnia and Herzegovina transposed the Directive on General Product Safety (2001/95/EC), thereby stipulating in its legislation the obligation that products placed on the market of Bosnia and Herzegovina must be safe.
The Law on Market Surveillance in Bosnia and Herzegovina regulates the surveillance of products placed on the market of Bosnia and Herzegovina, establishes general principles, and sets up the market surveillance system, which is comprised of:
Market Surveillance Agency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and
inspection and other administrative authorities of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Republic of Srpska, and Brčko District of Bosnia and Herzegovina which are authorized by specific laws and regulations to carry out inspections and other activities related to product safety control on the market of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Market surveillance system shall:
monitor the compliance of products placed on the market with the product safety requirements stipulated by the Law on General Product Safety and specific technical regulations,
monitor fulfilling the obligations assigned to producers and distributors, and
take measures to ensure compliance of products with the statutory safety requirements.
The objectives of the Agency are:
ensuring a systematic, harmonized and effective market surveillance system in Bosnia and Herzegovina,
developing transnational and international cooperation in market surveillance, including integration of Bosnia and Herzegovina into institutional and administrative structures of international cooperation,
promoting and developing scientific and professional knowledge, and its application in formulating and implementing market surveillance policies, as well as promoting and developing professional and expert capacities in all market surveillance structures,
affirming the principles of independence, impartiality and non-discrimination when conducting market surveillance.
Тhe Agency has the following competences:
to coordinate and harmonise the activities of the market surveillance system in Bosnia and Herzegovina,
to ensure identical and uniform enforcement of product safety legislation on the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina, including interpreting product safety legislation and issuing guidelines for its enforcement,
to participate in preparation and drafting of all product safety legislation whether adopted at the level of the Entities or of Bosnia and Herzegovina, ensuring the application of the current scientific and professional knowledge and good practices, particularly contemporary experiences and legal practices of the EU Member States,
to participate, encourage, and assist the development of expert and professional capacities in all market surveillance structures,
to provide scientific and technical support to all the competent authorities within its competences on matters concerning market surveillance,
to promote capacity building in certification and testing, and demonstration of competence through accreditation,
to ensure uniform procedures for acting on consumer complaints regarding product safety or performance of the competent authorities, their centralised record keeping, monitoring their resolving and informing the public of the availability of such mechanisms, aiming at equal consumer protection throughout the market of Bosnia and Herzegovina,
to establish efficient formal and/or informal mechanisms for cooperation of all actors in the market surveillance system,
to continuously inform the public and all interested parties of conducting market surveillance activities,
to maintain international and transnational cooperation in market surveillance, especially cooperation with the European Union, the competent authorities of the Member States and the World Trade Organization, to follow and fulfil the obligations of Bosnia and Herzegovina arising from that cooperation and to initiate legislative, administrative and institutional measures necessary for the cooperation, and
to periodically inform the authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Entities about the state of market surveillance.
Specific Duties and Responsibilities of the Agency: Notification of risks and dangerous products
The Agency timely informs the public and all interested parties in Bosnia and Herzegovina and abroad of the risks and dangerous products.
The Agency acts within the scope of its competences in cooperation with the competent authorities for product safety from other European countries, particularly in the form of administrative cooperation, in order to ensure:
exchange of information on risk assessment, dangerous products, test methods and results, recent scientific achievements, as well as other aspects relevant for surveillance activities,
establishment and implementation of joint surveillance and testing projects,
exchange of expertise and good practice, and cooperation in training activities,
improvement of cooperation with the European Union with regard to monitoring, withdrawal and recall of dangerous products.