Since the EU expanded to 27 member states in January 2007, it has become a huge market with a population of 480 million. As far as the furniture industry is concerned, the EU is currently the world's largest manufacturing market, the largest consumer market and the largest import market.
The EU produces about half of the world's furniture production. In 2005, furniture production in the 25 member states of the European Union totaled approximately 71.5 billion euros, of which 77% were wood furniture. Germany is the largest furniture manufacturer in the European Union, accounting for more than 27%, followed by Italy (21.6%), France (13.5%) and the United Kingdom (10.4%).
In 2005, EU furniture consumption was about 76.4 billion euros. The per capita consumption of the original 15 EU countries is 165 euros, of which Austria, Finland, Italy and Germany are in the forefront.
In 2005, the EU imported a total of 10.7 million tons of furniture worth 29.8 billion euros, of which 68% was trade between EU member states. Germany is the largest importer, accounting for about one-fifth of the EU's imports. In 2005, the EU imported 3.11 million tons of furniture worth 7.1 billion euros from developing countries, of which China is the fastest growing country, 2001. The amount of furniture imported from China increased by three times during 2005, and the number of imports increased even faster.
In terms of technical regulations, there are currently no EU directives specifically for furniture, but the following are applicable:
General Product Safety Directive (2001/95/EC): Mainly for the fire retardant requirements of upholstered furniture;
Volatile Organic Compounds Directive (1999/13/EC), abbreviated as VOC Directive: regulates some volatile organic compounds released during the production of furniture;
Building Product Safety Directive (89/106/EEC): specifies the formaldehyde content of wood panels;
The Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive (76/769/EEC) and its series of amendments and additions: provisions for restricted substances that may be contained in materials such as paint used in furniture;
REACH Regulation (EU Regulation No. 1907/2006 and Directive 2006/121/EC): Furniture manufacturing as a downstream industry for chemical products, chemical products such as adhesives and paints used in processing are subject to REACH regulations.
General product safety requirements
In order to compensate for the differences in regulations on consumer safety protection in EU countries and to ensure the safety of products put on the market, in 2001, the EU revised the original General Product Safety Directive (92/59/EEC) and adopted it. New General Product Safety Directive (2001/95/EC, referred to as GPSD Directive). The directive covers a wide range of consumer products in addition to the service sector, not only for new products, but also for used products. However, the instructions do not apply to products that have specific product directives, such as toys.
1. Scope of application
The directive applies but is not limited to the following products: clothing, pharmaceuticals, personal gardening supplies, food and beverages, household goods, baby products, chemicals and pesticides, consumer fireworks, motor vehicles, etc.
According to the GPSD Directive, the EU has developed a number of corresponding harmonized standards, among which furniture related:
EN 581-1:2006 "Outdoor furniture. Camping, domestic and contracting seats and tables. Part 1: General safety requirements"
EN 1129-1:1995 "Furniture. Rolling machines - Safety requirements and methods of inspection - Part 1
EN 1129-2:1995 "Furniture. Rolling beds. Safety technical requirements and methods of inspection. Part 2: Methods of inspection"
EN 1130-1:1996 "Furniture - Domestic cribs and cradle - Part 1 : Safety technical requirements"
EN 1130-2:1996 "Furniture. Household cribs and cradle. Part 2: Methods of inspection"
2. General safety requirements for products
The Directive sets out the principled requirements for the general safety aspects of the product. The main contents include:
(1) It is the responsibility of the manufacturer to place only safe products on the market;
(2) When the safety of the product in question is not specified in the Community-specific regulations, the product shall comply with the relevant laws of the Member State of the place of sale;
(3) When assessing the conformity of products in accordance with general safety standards, the following factors should be considered: whether there are national voluntary standards translated from European standards; whether the member countries of the place of sale have established standards; whether there is a product safety assessment recommended by the committee Guidance; technical status; consumer's reasonable expectations for product safety.
(4) The Directive also stipulates that even if the product meets the basic safety requirements of the Directive, once there is evidence that the product is dangerous, the law enforcement agencies of the Member States may also take measures to restrict the product from being placed on the market, such as requesting withdrawal of the product or recall of the product. .
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