Under European product safety legislation, economic operators (manufacturers, importers and retailers) are required to ensure that only safe products are placed on the market. Household products on sale in the Irish market, including sofas and mattresses, come within this requirement.
I am aware of the recent allegations of the sale of non-compliant products on the UK market and I am informed that the National Consumer Agency (NCA) has been following up with UK product safety authorities. The Agency has also been engaging with relevant retailers to determine whether the affected products were sold on the Irish market and what appropriate follow-up is required.
The NCA is the competent authority for market surveillance of consumer products and follows up any complaints received. In the region of 400 / 500 calls are dealt with each year in relation to potential product safety issues across a wide range of products. A very small proportion of such calls (3/4 per year) have related to potential furniture safety issues. In one case, the importation of a large consignment of sofas was intercepted by the Customs Authorities and, following investigation by the NCA, it was determined that the consignment did not meet requirements and was returned to the country of origin.
In the context of investigating the adherence of products to the relevant standards, the NCA, on occasions, sends sample products for testing to accredited test houses. There are no such test houses in Ireland for the product safety legislation for which the Agency has responsibility, and as a consequence such testing must be carried out abroad.