The market surveillance system in Poland is formed by the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection and market surveillance authorities entitled to control products and conduct administrative proceedings against products that do not meet the harmonised requirements in force in the European Union. These institutions are as follows:

• Trade Inspection
• State Labour Inspectorate
• Office of Electronic Communications
• Railway Transport Authority
• Construction Supervision Authority
• State Mining Authority
• Maritime Offices (in Gdynia and Szczecin)
• Main Inspectorate of Road Transport
• Central Office of Measures
• State Environment Protection Inspectorate

The tasks of the President of UOKiK under the system include:

• cooperation with market surveillance authorities and the National Tax Administration (customs authority),
• conducting administrative proceedings on the basis of the findings of inspections carried out by voivodeship inspectors of the Trade Inspection for products that fail to comply with the harmonised requirements,
• acting as a contact point for EU systems for exchanging information on non-food products: Safety Gate/RAPEX and ICSMS,
• provision of information to market surveillance authorities and the National Tax Administration indicating that a product fails to meet the requirements,
• maintaining the Register of non-conforming or hazardous products.

If an economic entity responsible for placing a product on the market fails to undertake measures to eliminate non-conformance of the product or withdraw it from the market, the market surveillance authority may, in particular:

• prohibit making the product available;
• order the withdrawal of the product from the market;
• order the recovery of the product;
• order the notification to users that the product fails to meet the requirements.

In the case of offering a non-conforming product over the internet, it is possible to order the removal of offers of such products from the online interface and post a warning to users.

Information on decisions imposing obligations in connection with the determination that a product is non-conforming, issued by market surveillance authorities, is transmitted to the President of UOKiK, who enters them into the Register of non-conforming or hazardous products.

Market surveillance authorities may impose, by way of decision, administrative fines on operators who have placed products that do not meet the harmonised requirements on the market. The fine can range from PLN 10,000 to 100,000, depending on the infringement.

Any natural or legal person or unincorporated organisational unit that designs and manufactures a product or for whom the product is designed or manufactured with the purpose of placing it on the market or putting it into service under its own name or trademark is considered a manufacturer.

This also applies to assembling, packaging, processing or labelling of ready-made products with the aim of marketing them under one’s own name.

The manufacturer assumes full and final responsibility for its product. If subcontractors are hired, the manufacturer must retain control over the production process, as it is the one who is responsible for the conformity of the product with the requirements. Subcontracting part or all of the work does not relieve the manufacturer of the responsibility for the product.

In the design and production phase, the manufacturer is responsible for, among other things:

• undertaking actions to ensure that the manufacturing process guarantees the conformity of the product with all requirements applicable to the product,
• if required by a given legal act – getting involved in the conformity assessment conducted by an independent body authorised to carry out product tests or to assess and approve the quality system (the so-called notified body),
• preparing technical documentation,
• putting the CE marking on the product,
• preparation of a declaration of conformity.

The requirements are established to counteract the threats that a product may generate due to its physical and chemical properties (mechanical or physical resistance, flammability, chemical or electrical properties, radioactivity, etc.). Some requirements also relate to materials which should be used to manufacture the product, as well as to the method of its construction and to the production process. Detailed parameters presenting the manner of meeting a given requirement are specified in harmonised standards (a list of current standards harmonised with individual legal acts).

The procedure for assessing the conformity with the requirements varies depending on the product. For many products it is very simple, but devices with a complex design, the use of which may involve a greater risk to the life or health of consumers, undergo a more complex conformity assessment procedure.

One of the primary responsibilities of the manufacturer is to prepare technical documentation of the product. It should include information about the design, method of manufacturing and operation, as well as test reports confirming that the declared requirements have been met. As a rule, such documentation must be maintained for at least ten years after the last unit has been manufactured.

It is also the manufacturer’s responsibility to draw up a declaration of conformity, in which it declares, on its own responsibility, that its product complies with the applicable harmonised requirements. Regulations introducing individual directives into Polish law specify information that a declaration of conformity should contain (e.g. Regulation of the Minister of Development and Finance of 20 October 2016 on requirements for toys) or elements of the declaration are indicated in directly applicable EU regulations (e.g. Regulation (EU) 2016/425 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 March 2016 on personal protective equipment and repealing Council Directive 89/686/EEC). The declaration should be made available to market surveillance authorities upon request. Moreover, some directives require it to be attached to the product (e.g., it should be attached to machines and personal protective equipment).