by Anna Karamanou (PSE) to the
Commission
(12 February
2002)
|
Subject: Accidents
caused by non-edible contents of chocolate eggs |
|
E-0504/02
EN E-0548/02
EN Answer
given by Mr Byrne on
behalf of the Commission (25
April 2002) In 1999,
the Commission conducted a preliminary investigation into the risks
posed by the association of certain types of non-food products (often
toys) with food products (often confectionery). The investigation looked
at non-food products in distinctive packaging which accompany food products,
including “surprise eggs” containing toys packaged separately (in capsules
or in another way). It is important to distinguish between these and
non-food products without their own packaging directly
associated (i.e. mixed in) with foods. With regard to the latter, it
was decided as long ago as 1997 that they should be considered as prohibited
under Council Directive 92/59/EEC of 29 June 1992 on general product
safety [1]
because of the high risk they posed. The investigation,
concluded in 2000, took all the information on recorded accidents and
information collected from the competent authorities in the Member States
into account. The full results of this investigation were communicated
to the European Parliament as part of petition 280/99, the answer to
oral question 21/00 [2] and various answers
given by the Commission to parliamentary questions, in particular the
joint reply to questions E-2630/00 by Mr Moreira Da Silva [3]
, 2631/00 by Mrs Damião3 and 2632/00
by Mr Lage3. The
Commission, assisted by the Committee on Product Safety Emergencies for
Directive 92/59/EEC, on the basis of the data and information collected,
concluded that the risks posed by these products
were similar to those posed by small toys in general or by toys containing
small parts. In other words, the "association" of a non-food and a food
product, where the two products have separate packaging, was not identified
as a specific risk factor, because it was not possible at that stage
to establish a cause-and-effect link between, on the one hand, a toy
in its own separate packaging and, on the other hand, the risk of accident.
The risk would depend on the actual features of the non-food product
or its packaging, and in particular small toys or those with small parts.
The safety of the latter is, moreover, governed by Council
Directive 88/378/EEC of 3 May 1988 on the approximation of the laws
of the Member States concerning the safety of toys [4]. |