Did you know…that there is a European system that you can use to check for dangerous goods in the European Union?

This is Safety Gate – an EU system for rapid alert for dangerous non-food items. Safety Gate spreads information about measurements taken against dangerous non-food goods among the national authorities, whose responsibility is to monitor the safety of products in the Single Market countries. The authorities in the member states send daily signals to the portal, which then forwards them to analogous institutions in the whole European Union.

The alerts contain information about the type of the product detected as dangerous, a description of the risk, and the measurements taken by the manufacturer or the authorities. Every signal is followed-up by the authorities in the other countries that take their own respective actions if they find the same product in their national markets.

Only safe goods are allowed to be sold in the EU markets. The member states apply a set of laws and regulations that determine which products are deemed safe, and which are not. Commodities that do not meet the requirements established in the law for product safety cannot be sold in the EU.

If you feel unusual because of using a certain product that you have purchased and used in the described way, you must send an alert to the responsible institution. The same is valid if you have doubts about the safety of a product. 

How can we make sure that we are buying only safe-to-use products?

  • They must come with a user manual in the national language.

  • The label shout state if there is a risk of dangerous chemicals or flammability, if applicable.

  • Check if the product is assembled correctly and works stable when used.

  • Check for suspicious chemical odours.

  • Check if there is any information of the Safety Gate portal.

  • Ако купувате стоки по интернет, проверете дали публикуваната информация съдържа всички характеристики на продукта.

  • If you buy goods on the internet, check if the published information contains all the product characteristics.