62 INDUSTRY NEW LAW PUTS INDUSTRY TO THE TEST BWG WARNS AGAINST OVER-REGULATION According to the Federal Association of Promotional Product Consultants and Distributors (bwg), the entry into force of the new German Product Safety Act (ProdSG) is a threat to the success of the promotional products industry. The regulation requires that every product released onto the market in Europe must include the full address of the manufacturer in future. This means the name and a postal address. The publication of a homepage does not fulfil the requirement. This strict labelling obligation according to § 6 par. 1 no. 2 creates nu- He sees small-sized promotional products in jeopardy due to the new EU regulation: the new bwg Chairman, Joachim Schulz. merous problems for advertisers and, in particular, distributors, in some cases presenting issues of existential significance. CONCERN IN THE INDUSTRY “On the one hand it’s a matter of space, which is simply not available on smaller promotional products such as pens, USB sticks or lighters”, explains Joachim Schulz, PSI Journal 3/2012 www.psi-network.de Chairman of the bwg since the beginning of the year. Another key issue is the differentiation between advertiser and manufacturer. “Details of the manufacturer must be very small to allow the advertising logo to dominate”, states Schulz. It is questionable whether small-sized promotional products will continue to hold a place on the wish-list of customers. “And how will recourse claims be handled in the event that manufacturers do not conform to the new requirements?” Schulz continues to witness the uncertainty among his colleagues in the industry. He was approached on the subject many times by promotional product distributors at the PSI Trade Show – the biggest industry platform in Europe. They also raised the question of who should pay for the additional printing or alternative application of the address details. MORE FREQUENT INSPECTIONS “And what will happen to the existing stock? A transitional period is not foreseen; there is no room for discussion. One simply can’t say that the ‘old’ text still applies for all products that were imported before entry into force of the ProdSG”, says Schulz. Although publication of the address was also required in the past, there were no sanctions. “Now the situation is different: Infringements are penalised with fines of up to € 10,000”, explains Schulz. The German market surveillance authorities, such as the responsible trade supervisory authorities, are obliged to carry out stronger checks in accordance with the ProdSG and are now performing more frequent inspections. BWG PROVIDES INFORMATION The BWG has already taken active steps to inform its members and is doing its best to answer all questions that arise. Schulz fears that “those who are not members of the association may not be aware of the new developments”. www.bwg-verband.de <

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