OECD launches global product recalls portal
The OECD has launched an online portal to provide consumers, businesses and governments quick and easy access to the latest information on products recalled from the market in Australia, Canada, Europe and the United States.
The portal is designed to promote and improve product safety. According to the OECD, deaths and injuries worldwide from unsafe products are estimated to cost more than US$1trn each year.
Through the portal, consumers will be able to check whether a product they are planning to buy in a store or online has been taken off shelves in another country. Businesses, such as importers or retailers, will be able to react quickly and pull products as soon as concerns arise.
The OECD said the portal will also help improve co-ordination among regulators and governments so that dangerous products can be removed from sale and enforcement stepped up.
Information on recalled products will updated on a regular basis by the EU (through Rapex, the EU rapid alert system for dangerous non-food products), US, Canadian and Australian authorities.
“The past decade has seen a sharp increase in the number of product recalls,” said OECD deputy secretary-general Rintaro Tamaki at the launch of the portal in Brussels last Friday. “With ever more sophisticated and globalised supply chains in international trade, it’s more vital than ever that governments co-operate and respond quickly to issues as they arise. The portal will play a key role in facilitating co-operation and information sharing.”
“In our global marketplace and interconnected world, information sharing is key,” said Inez Tenenbaum, chairman of the US Consumer Product Safety Commission. “Providing consumers in different jurisdictions with access to recall information from another country will empower them and advance the cause of safety.”