Division 4.2 To whom the notification should be presented

Producers and distributors are required by the GPSD to submit their notifications to the market surveillance/enforcement authorities of all the Member States where the product has been marketed or otherwise supplied to consumers. Each Member State must designate the authority in charge of receiving such notifications. A list of the authorities designated to that effect is on the Commission's website.

Annex I of the GPSD states that the information specified in Article 5(3) must be submitted to the competent authorities in the Member States where the products in question are or have been marketed or otherwise supplied to consumers.

However, it is desirable to reduce the burden on producers and distributors by introducing arrangements simplifying the practical application of the requirements in question, while ensuring that all the interested authorities are informed. These arrangements will also contribute to prevent multiple notifications concerning the same fault.

Therefore, producers and distributors have the option of submitting the required information to the authority of the Member State in which they are established, if one of these two conditions is fulfilled:

• The risk is notified as being ‘serious’ or is considered ‘serious’ by the receiving authority and this authority decides to introduce a notification concerning the product in question under the RAPEX system. In such a case, the receiving authority should without delay inform the producer or distributor who has submitted the information of its decision to inform the other Member States’ authorities through RAPEX.

• The risk is notified as not being ‘serious’ or is not considered serious by the receiving authority, but this authority has communicated to the producer or distributor who has submitted the information its intention to forward the information, through the Commission, to the authorities of the other Member States^f1 where, according to the indications of the producer or distributor, the product is/has been placed on the market. In such a case, the receiving authority must inform the producer or distributor without delay.

The producer or distributor that only informs the authority of the country where it is located should always provide this authority with the available information about other countries where the product has been marketed.

If the national authorities conclude or obtain evidence that a product placed on the market is dangerous and they have not been informed by its producer or distributors, they must examine whether and when the relevant operators should have notified and decide appropriate action, including possible sanctions.