SUPPLY CHAIN RESPONSIBILITIES: A NEW APPROACH BLUEPRINT
December 1st 2007 Many readers will not be aware of what a ‘New Approach Directive’ actually is. In principle it is one of the many EU Directives which are modelled against a strict blueprint to ensure consistency.
This is now important because the EU is in the process of amending and up-dating this blueprint. What is also important is that this blueprint will be brought into force through an EU Regulation (as currently being proposed). So why is this important? It is important mainly because with current Directives our Westminster Parliament needs to enact then and gain the Royal Assent before they become law in the UK. With an EU Regulation, that does not need to happen.
It is not the role of the BSIF to take a view on ‘Red Lines’ and EU Constitutions but it is our role to alert the industry we serve that this is not just another news item - it will affect the UK safety industry as and when the PPE Directive is reviewed and some serious concerns are beginning to be expressed based on what is currently happening to the Medical Devices Directive.
Evidence of compliance
While the above is interesting background, the main purpose of this item is to inform readers about a particular aspect of the New Approach blueprint which will affect the ways PPE (and many other products) are traded in the future. The EU Commission's intention is to continue with its obligations on manufacturers to ensure that their products are in compliance with the various product Directives (no change there) and then to add an obligation on every step in the supply-chain to be able to evidence that the products being traded are in compliance.
This may have some benefits, and it is likely that bone-fide distributors of PPE will be able to do this (BSIF member distributors operate in this way already).
However, the BSIF wonders how providers of sportswear supplying climbing kit, equestrian shops providing hard-hats and farm shops supplying respiratory equipment will react when asked to provide evidence to the authorities to confirm that the PPE onsale is in compliance with the Directive since we all now know that a CE Mark on the packet will be insufficient.
The BSIF will seek to keep the safety industry advised of developments and, in the mean time, we would welcome and comments readers may have – through the Editor please. More articles from BSIF Enterprise: | 
