Market Surveillance Regulations
Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 of the European Parliament and of the Council on market surveillance (as amended by Regulation (EU) 2025/14, (EU) 2025/40) and the conformity of products with regulations, and amending Directive 2004/42/EC and Regulations (EC) No. 765/2008 and (EU) No. 305/2011. Amendment No. (EU) 2025/40 shall apply from August 12, 2026; Amendment No. (EU) 2025/14 shall apply from January 29, 2028. Furthermore, the "Regulation on Conformity and Surveillance" is in line with the "Consumer Product Safety and Market Surveillance Package " and aims to eliminate a large number of legislative acts containing market surveillance rules and to create a single-pillar system combining market surveillance rules into a single surveillance instrument. The "Conformity and Market Surveillance Regulation" addresses certain shortcomings in the strategic objectives of Regulation (EC) No. 765/2008—such as the growing number of non-compliant products, poor traceability of non-compliant products imported into the EU in the case of online sales, and insufficient border controls on products imported into the EU. The "Conformity and Market Surveillance Regulation" applies to all products covered by Union harmonization legislation and listed in Annex I. The "Conformity and Market Surveillance Regulation" requires Member States to regularly (at least every four years, starting July 16, 2022) develop a national market surveillance strategy. It also establishes cooperation and mutual assistance procedures among Member States—evidence and findings from investigations in one Member State may be used in another Member State. To coordinate the enforcement of requirements set by EU harmonization regulations and facilitate joint actions by Member States, Article 29 establishes a Union Product Compliance Network , which will be operated by the EC. This system will be available to supervisory authorities in Member States and the EC and will inform the general public through the system’s public interface. For products imported into the EU, a person established in the EU must be designated to be responsible for ensuring the product’s compliance with harmonization regulations. In accordance with Regulation (EU) 2018/1724, the EC will establish the Your Europe portal, where economic operators will be able to publish information via the online portal regarding voluntary measures taken in connection with risks posed by products they have placed on the market. As part of market surveillance and to ensure the reliability and consistency of testing throughout the Union, the Commission will designate Union testing laboratories for a specific product or a specific category/group of products, or for specific risks associated with a category/group of products. Union testing facilities must be accredited in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 765/2008.
The procedures for designating Union testing facilities are laid down in a Commission implementing act: Commission
Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/1267 (Slovak version), which establishes procedures for the designation of Union testing facilities for the purposes of market surveillance and verification of the conformity of products in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 of the European Parliament and of the Council, applicable from August 10, 2022. Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/1267 addresses the insufficient capacity for laboratory testing in the Union.
Conditions for the designation of Union testing facilities:
- Union
- testing facilities must be accredited in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 765/2008;
- designated Union testing facilities provide their services only to market surveillance authorities, the network, the Commission
- ,
- and other governmental or intergovernmental entities
- . The activities carried out by Union testing facilities within their scope of competence are: testing of products at the request of market surveillance authorities, the Network, or the Commission; independent technical or scientific advice at the request of the Network; and the development of new techniques and methods of analysis.
The EC has issued "Guidance for economic operators and market surveillance authorities on the practical implementation of Article 4 of Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 on market surveillance and compliance of products with regulations" (en, sk).
Article 4 concerns the obligations of economic operators in relation to products covered by certain Union harmonization legislation. This article applies to: construction products; personal protective equipment; gas-fired appliances; noise emissions from equipment intended for outdoor use into the surrounding environment; machinery; toys; ecodesign of energy-related products; restrictions on the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment; pyrotechnic articles; recreational craft and personal watercraft; simple pressure vessels; electromagnetic compatibility; non-automatic weighing instruments; measuring instruments; equipment and protective systems intended for use in potentially explosive atmospheres; electrical equipment designed for use within certain voltage limits; radio equipment; pressure equipment; unmanned aerial vehicles (drones). Commission
Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/1121, specifying the details regarding statistical data to be submitted by Member States concerning checks on products entering the Union market in relation to product safety and compliance with regulations (en, sk).
In the Czech Republic, the rules for market surveillance of specified products are set forth in Section 18 of Act No. 22/1997 Coll. and Act No. 90/2016 Coll. The market surveillance authority in the Czech Republic is the Czech Trade Inspection Authority (ČOI), established by Act No. 64/1986 Coll., on the Czech Trade Inspection Authority. This Act generally defines its supervisory competencies and powers vis-à-vis the entities subject to inspection. This authority ensures that specified products are placed on the market and put into service only if they do not jeopardize legitimate interests, i.e., the safety and health of persons or the environment, meaning they comply with the requirements set forth in the relevant regulations .
In the Slovak Republic, Act No. 128/2002 Coll.on State Control of the Internal Market in Matters of Consumer Protection (current version) applies (the amendment by Act No. 108/2024 Coll. shall apply from July 1, 2024).Market
surveillance is now newly regulated by Act No. 87/2023 Coll. (as amended by Act No. 387/2024 Coll.) on Market Surveillance of Products and on Amendments to Certain Related Acts (the Act on Market Surveillance of Products). Act No. 87/2023 Coll. entered into force on April 6, 2023. Act No. 87/2023 Coll. implements Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 of the European Parliament and of the Council into Czech legislation in the area of market surveillance and establishes powers and obligations for administrative surveillance authorities in the Czech Republic that had not previously been introduced into Czech legislation. According to Act No. 87/2023 Coll., market surveillance will apply in cases where the EU regulations listed in Annex I to Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 of the European Parliament and of the Council do not contain specific detailed provisions governing the surveillance of specific products or categories of products.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MPO) is designated under Section 3 of Act No. 87/2023 Coll. as the central liaison office.
The primary responsibility of the MIT will be to coordinate cooperation among the supervisory authorities overseeing the product market: the Czech Trade Inspection Authority, the Czech Mining Authority, the State Energy Inspection Authority, the Office for Technical Standardization, Metrology, and State Testing, the Ministry of Transport, the Railway Authority, regional public health offices, the State Institute for Drug Control, the Central Institute for Agricultural Testing and Inspection, the State Agricultural and Food Inspection Authority, the Institute for State Control of Veterinary Biologicals and Medicines, the Czech Environmental Inspectorate, the Ministry of the Interior, and the Ministry of Defense.
These supervisory authorities are administrative bodies that exercised market surveillance over products even prior to the enactment of this Act. The Annex
to Act No. 87/2023 Coll. clearly defines the specific scope of authority of these supervisory bodies.Market
surveillance applies to products that fall within the harmonized scope, such as those covered by Act No. 22/1997 Coll. on technical requirements for products, Act No. 90/2016 Coll. on the conformity assessment of specified products when placed on the market, Act No. 206/2015 Coll. on pyrotechnic products, as well as other products. Act No. 87/2023 Coll. sets out in Section 11 (Administrative Offenses) the amount of possible fines ranging from CZK 100,000 to CZK 50,000,000.
Act No. 87/2023 Coll. amends Act No. 90/2016 Coll., Act No. 22/1997 Coll., Act No. 477/2001 Coll., Act No. 102/2001 Coll., Act No. 406/2000 Coll., Act No. 156/1998 Coll.
By amending Act No. 387/2024 Coll.: the scope of the Act on
Market Surveillance of Products is extended to include non-harmonized products, the Hallmarking
Office is added to the list of supervisory authorities,
a new power is granted to supervisory authorities to require online marketplace providers to remove specific content referring to the offer of a dangerous product from their online interface, to prevent access to the offer of a dangerous product on their online interface, or to display an explicit warning to consumers regarding the dangerous
product (see Section 6).
Legislation is being prepared in the Slovak Republic—supervision in the area of consumer protection:
- Act on Supervision in the Field of Consumer Protection and on Amendments to Certain Acts
Market surveillance pursuant to Act No. 90/2016 Coll. on the conformity assessment of specified products is carried out by:
- Czech Trade Inspection Authority
- Czech Mining Authority
- Railway Authority
- other administrative authorities
Supervisory authorities conduct analyses or arrange for analyses to be conducted to verify compliance with the requirements of Act No. 90/2016 Coll. for specified products. If it is determined that a product does not meet the requirements of Act No. 90/2016 Coll., the costs of the analysis are borne by the inspected entity. Supervisory authorities may impose obligations on economic operators to eliminate the causes and deficiencies within a specified time limit, take the necessary measures, and immediately inform persons who could be endangered by the dangerous product of the danger. If a notified body participated in the conformity assessment of the product in question, the supervisory authority may require the notified body to review the certificate of conformity; and if it is established that the product does not meet the relevant requirements, the supervisory authority may require the notified body to withdraw the certificate issued to the economic operator. In the event of non-compliance with the technical requirements for a given product, the supervisory authority may request from the notified body information and documents relating to the conformity assessment of that product, including the issued certificate, technical documentation, and test reports.
Market surveillance inspections may be conducted at various times throughout the product’s entire lifecycle after it has been placed on the market, such as during distribution, commissioning, or end use.
Corrective measures
Corrective measures taken by market surveillance authorities include: prohibiting the supply of a product to the market, prohibiting the putting into service or use of a product by the manufacturer for its own purposes, withdrawing the product from the market or from distribution, destroying the product, or otherwise rendering the product unusable. These protective measures are communicated to economic operators orally and are immediately recorded in writing. Protective measures may also be imposed following failure to comply with a request for corrective action in the case of so-called formal non-compliance, which consists of deficiencies in the conformity marking or in the documents certifying conformity. The subject of the inspection may also include a CE marking that was affixed in violation of the law or was not affixed at all, a declaration of conformity that was not drawn up in accordance with the government regulation, or the availability and completeness of technical documentation.
Products posing a risk despite meeting requirements
Act No. 90/2016 Coll. also addresses cases where a product poses a risk despite meeting all specified requirements; supervisory authorities may impose measures on the economic operator to ensure that the product in question no longer poses this risk or to withdraw the product from the market or from circulation. Corrective measures must also be taken in all Member States to which the product in question has been supplied. An appeal against this decision does not have suspensive effect.
Notification Obligation The supervisory authority informs the
Ministry of Industry and Trade (MPO) of measures taken regarding risky products, even if these measures were taken voluntarily by the inspected entity. Communication between the authorities of individual countries is important when a hazardous product is detected. This communication, which is handled by the MPO on the Czech side, takes place through the rapid information exchange system “RAPEX.”
