For the thirteenth year in a row from December 2, the Main Directorate "Market Supervision" (GDNP) under the State Agency for Metrological and Technical Supervision (DAMTN) is starting the traditional national campaign "Safe Christmas 2024", which will last until December 20. The aim of the campaign is to ensure the safety of users, the agency announced, broadcast by BTA.
The following groups of products will be checked - children's toys, Christmas electrical decorations, the electrical supply of which is 220-230V, including volumetric and flat luminous figures, luminous trees, light curtains, "falling snow", Christmas inscriptions, etc., as well as pyrotechnic articles of categories F1, F2, F3, T1 and P1, which are one of the most wanted goods for Christmas and New Year.
During the inspections, the attention of the inspectors from the GDNP will be directed to establishing the presence of a conformity mark, instructions for use, name and address of the economic operator who put the product on the market, as well as specific warning texts related to the safe use of the products. Part of the inspections will be carried out jointly with inspectors from the Consumer Protection Commission.
During the next campaign, in the presence of non-compliant products, the employees of GDNP at DAMTN will issue orders to stop their distribution.
Within the campaign under the same motto in 2023. year, a total of 475 different products were checked in 207 commercial establishments throughout the country, the agency reminds. Inconsistencies were found in 174 of them. For the detected violations, 66 Acts for establishing administrative violations were drawn up. Traders have been issued orders to stop selling products without CE conformity marking and products with visible non-conformities.
Among the agency's tips when shopping for Christmas and New Year, when choosing toys, look for the "CE" mark on them or their packaging. and information about the address and name of the manufacturer and/or importer, the same is the recommendation when purchasing the fireworks. In addition, it is important to monitor whether the fireworks are accompanied by instructions for use drawn up by the manufacturer in Bulgarian. From the instructions for use, the user can be informed about the category of the firework, which must be indicated by the following code - F1, F2, F3 and F4.
The user should keep in mind that fireworks of category F4 are for professional use and cannot be sold to citizens, the agency points out. It is important for the user to know that, depending on the category, fireworks are intended for outdoor use only, such as category F1 can also be used indoors, and this must be noted by the manufacturer on the label.
When purchasing an electric Christmas decoration, consumers should know that the following information must be printed on it: "CE" marking, trademark, declared manufacturer/importer, declared voltage and power/current, degree of protection against dust and moisture - IR code when the Christmas decoration is intended for outdoor use. If a decoration from previous years is used, before plugging it into the mains, the user must check the integrity of the power cord and the decoration itself for possible damage due to storage conditions.
Last year, three groups of products were the focus of inspections: children's electric toys, electric light garlands and pyrotechnic articles in the same categories as this year.