New product’s safety law in North Macedonia

The new Law on Product Safety published in the Official Gazette of RSM no. 302 of 18.12.2020, regulates the area for free movement of goods and the creation of a single internal market.

This law is now harmonized with the Directive 2001/95 / EU on general product safety and partial harmonization with Decision 768/2008 / EU on a common framework on the placing on the market of products and on the repeal of the Decision on a common framework for the release of products and on the repeal of Council Decision 93/465 / EEC. This should be also overcomed because it is a difficulty in implementation, ie it contains two areas, one for general product safety, and the second is for technical regulations and we need to fully comply with EU legislation which according to Directive 2001/95 / EU on General product safety and its complete transposition into the legislation of the Republic of North Macedonia is an obligation to start negotiations and prepare the legislation for the screening process.

The new Draft Law on General Product Safety fully transposes Directive 2001/95 / EU of the European Union on General Product Safety and transposes Council Directive 87/357 / EEC of 25 June 1987 on the harmonization of the laws of the Member States. in relation to products which, like others, endanger the health or safety of consumers.

The new Draft Law, regulates provisions that enable the application of the European law in the field of product safety and thus the protection of the consumers, as well as more clearly defined obligations that the producers have to fulfill and distributors and other persons in the sales chain.

The proposed solutions will contribute to create a modern legal framework, which, on the one hand, provides a high level of protection of consumer safety.

In addition to this, the solutions will also strengthen the role of inspection bodies in market surveillance and to take measures when products that do not meet safety requirements appear on it, as well as to encourage voluntary action of economic operators in cases that will place products on the market that are considered dangerous, ie from which a risk arises.

The Government expects that the implementation of the European standards for product safety will increase the competitiveness of the Macedonian economy and will facilitate its inclusion in the internal market, which should affect the growth of economic activity as a whole.

It is understood that the manufacturer is a regulator of economic development that directly affects the business policy of companies and promotes competitiveness. Therefore, the placement of safe products on the market is an important segment of the internal market of the European Union, which directly affects its functioning, ie the development of business activities and economic growth of the country.

The above text is for information purpose only. It’s content cannot be cosnidered a legal advise. Please consult a lawyer for more specific legal information.