Effective market surveillance ensures not only protection of consumers by ensuring that only safe products are placed on the market, but also protection of economic operators from unfair competition.
Market surveillance comprises the overall system of measures, procedures and activities of the competent authorities which are being carried out to ensure that the products placed on the market comply with the prescribed safety requirements and includes surveillance, and taking measures and actions for the purpose of bringing them into compliance with the prescribed requirements.
Market surveillance is the responsibility of public administration authorities, which should particularly ensure the impartiality in market surveillance activities. Market surveillance authorities must have the necessary resources and powers to carry out their surveillance activities, i.e. to monitor products placed on the market and, in case of non-compliance, to take appropriate measures to ensure compliance, while respecting the principle of proportionality with the degree of risk or non-compliance. Additionally, competent authorities must be independent and carry out their activities in an impartial and non-discriminatory manner.
Proactive and reactive market surveillance
Proactive surveillance, as one of the priority activities of Market Surveillance Agency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, is planned and determined by the Annual Market Surveillance Plan, which defines product groups that will be subject to control. The product groups are selected based on the results of surveillance from the previous period, their market presence, price, risks posed by the products, etc. Activities carried out during proactive surveillance include administrative and visual control of the products, and laboratory testing of samples to determine compliance with safety requirements for the products.
Reactive market surveillance consists of activities that cannot be planned in advance and are initiated based on received consumer complaints, information about unsafe products found in the European Union and in the countries of the region, information about voluntary withdrawal and recall of products, information about injuries or accidents resulting from product use, information from the media about unsafe products, information from consumer associations and from other sources. Upon receipt of the information, appropriate measures are taken depending on the type of non-compliance and the level of risk.
Market Surveillance Agency of Bosnia and Herzegovina carries out all activities of proactive and reactive surveillance in cooperation with the competent inspection authorities of the BiH entities and Brčko District of BiH. Coordinated and harmonized activities of the market surveillance system of Bosnia and Herzegovina ensure the identical and uniform implementation of product safety regulations, which means taking appropriate measures depending on the type of non-compliance and the level of risk posed by the product.