Articles 2 and 3 of the General Product Directive specifically mention
"consumers". Check also, the fourth "whereas" which mentions consumers.
Likewise, many of the "whereas" clauses of the Liability Directive mention
consumers. Article 9(b)(I) indicates that the products are for "private use
or consumption".
All of above leads me to my conclusion that both directives are intended for
consumer products.
Richard Woods
----------
From: Ron Pickard [SMTP:rpick...@hypercom.com]
Sent: Tuesday, June 20, 2000 1:47 PM
To: wo...@sensormatic.com
Cc: t...@world.std.com; emc-p...@ieee.org
Subject: Re: General Product Safety and Liability Directives
Hi Richard,
I disagree with you regarding your claim about these two directives
only
being applicable to consumer products.
The General Product Safety Directive (GPSD) is focused towards
product
where no other directives apply. The GPSD states"
Article 1
1. The purpose of the provisions of this Directive is to ensure
that
products placed on the market are safe.
2. The provisions of this Directive shall apply in so far as there
are no
specific provisions in rules of Community law governing the safety
of the
products concerned.
It is agreed that as time moves on, there will be more product
family
specific directives put into force effectively limiting the scope
of the
GPSD.
The Liability Directive (LD) title is focused to "... concerning
liability
for defective products". And, Article 1 of the LD states "The
producer
shall be liable for damage caused by a defect in his product." This
directive, in fact, deals with the liabilities of defective products
regardless of market focus.
As can be plainly seen, neither directive is focused toward
consumer
products. In fact, they reference to no particular product areas.
However,
the GPSD appears to be a catchall where no other directive applies.
Well, so much for my 2 cents worth of opinions. Comments?
Best regards,
Ron Pickard
rpick...@hypercom.com
WOODS@Sensormatic
.com To:
emc-p...@majordomo.ieee.org, t...@world.std.com
Sent by: cc:
treg-approval@wor Subject: General
Product Safety and Liability Directives
ld.std.com
06/20/00 07:58 AM
Please respond to
WOODS
In the following discussion, I am interested in determining the
legal
aspects only.
The General Product Safety Directive and the Liability Directives
apply to
consumer products and not to products used in the workplace.
Consider
electrical products that would otherwise be subject to the Low
Voltage
Directive but operate below the lower voltage limits of the
directive. The
safety of such products intended for use in the workplace are
subject only
to non-harmonized national regulations concerning worker safety. Do
these
national regulations make the assumption that such equipment must
comply
with the applicable essential requirements that are normally
associated
with
equipment covered by the LVD?
Richard Woods
