Poland proposes draft law on general product safety

On 11 June 2024, a draft law on general product safety appeared in the Polish government's legislative and programmatic work list.

The proposed law is part of the EU-wide revision of general product safety rules and is being drafted to ensure the correct application of the EU Parliament and Council Regulation 2023/988 on general product safety (EU Regulation 2023/988).

The provisions of EU Regulation 2023/988, which outline the requirements for general product safety and the obligations of businesses, go into effect in December 2024, and only to narrow extent require development into the national laws of EU member states. National legislators in each member state can decide how to implement the regulation’s provisions in a systemic and procedural nature, defining the competence of market surveillance authorities, the mode of conducting inspections or imposing penalties.

In Poland, legislators envisage maintaining the current market surveillance authorities – the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) and the Provincial Trade Inspection Inspectors (WIIH). At the same time, legislators want to expand the powers of these authorities, particularly after the development of new technologies and the increase in online sales in recent years.

UOKiK, in addition to overseeing general product safety, will be responsible for the following:

• conducting proceedings on general product safety, in which it can, for example, order a warning to consumers, an immediate recall or recovery of the product from consumers, and remove product-related content from the online interface or place a clear warning in this content;
• conducting proceedings against suppliers of online trading platforms to remove product-related content from the interface and place a warning in the interface where a product provider fails to implement a decision of UOKiK;
• entering into agreements with suppliers of online trading platforms involving their voluntary commitments to enhance product safety;
• addressing "soft" notices to businesses (i.e. requests for information, explanations or documents on product safety) without initiating proceedings;
• considering notifications from consumers and others regarding product safety and compliance with EU Regulation 2023/988.

The project's description indicates that the WIIH will continue to conduct product inspections to determine compliance with general safety requirements. However, they will gain the authority to conduct inspections of products offered online remotely.

The body responsible for drafting the new law is UOKiK. The draft is scheduled for adoption by the Council of Ministers in the third quarter of 2024.

For more details on this draft and product safety regulations in Poland, contact your CMS client partner or these CMS experts.