Dynamic simulations of market surveillance actions

Abstract

The Regulation No. 765/2008 of the European parliament and of the Council, Art. 2, no. 17, defines market surveillance as: "activities carried out and measures taken by public authorities to ensure that products comply with the requirements set out in the relevant Community harmonization legislation and do not endanger health, safety or any other aspect of public interest protection." This paper presents a dynamic market surveillance model that takes into account the three most relevant actors within the market surveillance (MS) system: the market surveillance authority, the consumers (users of the products) and the economic operators; defines satisfactory indices for each of them, together with a set of action rules when the value of the index is below or above some (predefined) limiting value. Afterwards, computer simulation is done for a real case, the results are studied and adequate conclusions are drawn. The model given in the paper is a pioneering work and can be further developed and improved. Nevertheless, it still encompasses very well the interaction between the three parties and follows the directions given in EU Regulation No. 765/2008. It shows the dynamics of the market surveillance system and offers insight into its parameters. Thus, it can be used when improving an existing or creating a new market surveillance system.