Market surveillance and environmental marketing

Market surveillance aims to ensure that products and services placed and introduced on the internal EU market meet the requirements of the legislation. Ensuring compliance protects public interests such as the safety and health of consumers, workers and other end-users as well as the environment.

Market surveillance covers all activities of market surveillance authorities and the measures they take to ensure that products placed on the EU internal market comply with legal requirements.

The primary responsibility for product conformity lies with manufacturers, importers,sellers and, in the case of services, service providers.

Several authorities are responsible for market surveillance in Finland<

The Finnish market surveillance authorities operate in the administrative branch of seven ministries, and market surveillance is mainly carried out by agencies controlled by ministries.

An exception to this rule is market surveillance of technical equipment intended for work-related use, carried out by the Department for Work and Gender Equality at the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health and the five Divisions of Occupational Safety and Health of the Regional State Administrative Agencies.

In addition, the Åland Government is responsible for market surveillance in several product sectors.

Market surveillance is divided into proactive and reactive surveillance

Proactive market surveillance refers to market surveillance activities planned in advance by the market surveillance authority and is carried out in accordance with the market surveillance authorities' surveillance plans.

Proactive market surveillance is carried out during surveillance visits in various stores, online shops, industrial sites or other similar locations where products are sold or introduced.

Reactive market surveillance is usually triggered by an external event. These may include various incidents and accidents related to a product, notifications by other market surveillance authorities or notifications by other authorities, consumers or economic operators.

If a market surveillance authority receives information about a product suspected of being non-compliant or posing a risk, it shall take steps to investigate the matter and, if necessary, take appropriate action.

Finnish Environment Institute as a market surveillance authority

The Finnish Environment Institute (Syke) is responsible for the market surveillance of the EU Ecolabel, quality of the fuel used in transportation, ozone-depleting substances (ODS) and fluorinated greenhouse gases (F-gases).

In its inspection, Syke takes into account Finland's national market surveillance strategy, which was drawn up by the Finnish Market Surveillance Contact Point Fipoint in cooperation with the Market Surveillance Cooperation Group. Finnish Environment Institute is one of the authorities in the cooperation group.