The audit was carried out on 2 February 2022.

Background

The EU Regulation on market surveillance and compliance of products is incorporated into Norwegian law through the EEA Goods Act.

The purpose of the regulation is to strengthen surveillance of products covered by harmonised goods regulations with a view to ensuring that only goods that comply with applicable regulations are sold in the internal market.

The PSA is the market surveillance authority responsible for the regulations that implement harmonised product directives, notably the Machinery Directive, the Pressure Equipment Directive and the ATEX Directive (equipment and protective systems intended for use in potentially explosive atmospheres). The Directives also apply to products for use in petroleum activities within the EEA, i.e. in principle, activities at onshore facilities and on fixed facilities offshore.

Objective

The objective of the market surveillance was to audit how GMC complies with the regulatory requirements deriving from the Machinery Directive and the ATEX Directive (equipment and protective systems intended for use in potentially explosive atmospheres) for ATEX products placed on the market.

Result

The audit identified two non-conformities. These comprised:

  • The supplier's obligations when selling machines
  • The distributor's obligations when selling ATEX products.

What happens now?

We have asked GMC to report by 7 April 2022 on how the non-conformities will be addressed.

Market surveillance

Market surveillance is an obligation incumbent on the national authorities to ensure that only safe products are marketed in Norway. Market surveillance is performed by proactive or reactive market inspections that entail checking that products meet applicable safety requirements.

Proactive market surveillance is a planned approach in which we investigate whether products placed on the market comply with product regulations. Reactive market surveillance is performed primarily in response to incidents or suspicions that products do not meet the legal requirements.