ICSMS

I
C
S
M
S

Information and
Communication
System for
Market
Surveillance

by
Ludwig Finkeldei

Ministry of Environment and Transport Baden-Wrttemberg

March 2005

CURRENT LACKS OF MARKET SURVEILLANCE

Local market inspection bodies are lacking the means to

interact and exchange important information quickly and intime

Current market inspection practices

work merely on a REGIONAL level while, in fact, markets work and
companies operate INTERNATIONALLY
and even GLOBALLY:

Market surveillance needs TEAMWORK

Ministry of Environment and Transport Baden-Wrttemberg

March 2005

EFFECTIVE MARKET SURVEILLANCE NEEDS ...

quick and in-time INFORMATION and COMMUNICCATION on

market inspection and surveillance measures conducted by
other market inspection bodies
a DATA BASE covering all and any products distributed
throughout Europe including up-to-date information on
product TESTING (positive and negative)
EVALUATION TOOLS to compare existing testing methods
and to ensure a uniform level of quality
efficient co-operation with CUSTOMS authorities
an attractive means to inform the PUBLIC about unsafe
products (see also: requirements of Art. 16, revised General
Product Safety Directive)
Ministry of Environment and Transport Baden-Wrttemberg

March 2005

European Market and ICSMS

ICSMS: initiated by the EU, Belgium,

Sweden and Germany.
Austria and Luxemburg joined the
system during the development
phase.
Estonia started with the system
in September 2003
Slovenia and the Netherlands
started the trial in 2003.
United Kingdom started
the trial in June 2004.
Switzerland started with the
system in September 2004.
Ministry of Environment and Transport Baden-Wrttemberg

March 2005

ARCHITECTURE

Information and Communication System

Public Section

Confidential Section
Product Information

Faulty products

Test results

Voluntary recalls

Measures taken
.......

.......

Market Surveillance
Authorities

Customs

Distributor

EU
Commission
Ministry of Environment and Transport Baden-Wrttemberg

Customers
5

March 2005

Which DIRECTIVES will be covered today ?

2001/95/EC General Product Safety

Directive

98/37/EC Machinery Directive

73/23/EEC Low Voltage Directive

89/336/EEC Electromagnetic
compatibility (EMC)

88/378/EEC Toy Safety Directive

1999/5/EC R&TTE Radio equipment

and telecommunications terminal
equipment

97/23/EC Pressure Equipment

Directive
89/686/EEC Personal Protective
Equipment Directive

90/396/EEC Appliances Burning

Gaseous Fuels

95/16/EC Lift Directive

94/9/EC Potentially explosive

atmospheres

87/404/EEC Simple Pressure

Vessels Directive

2001/14/EC Noise Emission

94/25/EC Recreational Craft

Directive
Ministry of Environment and Transport Baden-Wrttemberg

... to be continued
6

March 2005

A PRODUCT INFORMATION DATA SET will include data on:

General information about the notifying authority

Product identification criteria
Distributor
Relevant Provisions and Standards
Conformity
Depth and scope of testing
Test results and a classification of defects
Accidents occurred
Measures taken by surveillance authority
Ministry of Environment and Transport Baden-Wrttemberg

March 2005

A PRODUCT INFORMATION DATA SET

Ministry of Environment and Transport Baden-Wrttemberg

March 2005

A PRODUCT INFORMATION DATA SET conted

Ministry of Environment and Transport Baden-Wrttemberg

March 2005

A PRODUCT INFORMATION DATA SET conted

Ministry of Environment and Transport Baden-Wrttemberg

10

March 2005

ADVANTAGES of ICSMS

Fast exchange of information: information on unsafe

products will be announced immediately

Immediate measures may be taken

Deterrence: black sheep among manufacturers will
be detected earlier and punished more effectively
Avoiding redundant work: Test results by one
surveillance authority will be immediately made
available to all other Member States
Strengthening co-operation with Customs
authorities:
The TARIC system is implemented within ICSMS
Ministry of Environment and Transport Baden-Wrttemberg

11

March 2005

ADVANTAGES OF ICSMS, conted

Appropriate platform for complaints: in

accordance with the newly revised General
Product Safety Directive, ICSMS will create an
attractive platform for citizens to address
complaints

Templates of forms will be electronically

accessible and may be filled in and submitted online
Uniform operating language, adequate
translation options will be provided
Ministry of Environment and Transport Baden-Wrttemberg

12

March 2005

Service and availability

Training courses for users have been provided

in the past and will be provided in the future on
request.
Hotline (e-mail) and phone during the normal
office hours (8 am to 5 pm).
Support in other cases within 1 working day
System availability 24 h/day with >99 % within
the normal office hours.

Ministry of Environment and Transport Baden-Wrttemberg

13

March 2005

Development of costs

Annual cost for system providing will be

splitted according to the Key of Nice
(number of seats in the European Parliament).
Increasing number of participating Member
States is directly correlated to decreasing
operation costs for all of them.

Ministry of Environment and Transport Baden-Wrttemberg

14

March 2005

Further improvements of ICSMS

ICSMS 2
The objective of the project is to optimise ICSMS to
make market surveillance in Europe more effective,
efficient and transparent by:
Further optimisation of the existing information
system by connecting ICSMS to the RAPEX
system.
Improving the evaluation possibilities of ICSMS by
integrating an evaluation module.
Integration of all Member States languages into
ICSMS in order to facilitate its use for all member
states.

Ministry of Environment and Transport Baden-Wrttemberg

15

March 2005

Welcome to the Website of ICSMS

www.icsms.org
Ministry of Environment and Transport Baden-Wrttemberg

16

March 2005