Article 11. General duty of safety.
1. The goods or services on the market must be safe.
2. Are considered safe goods or services those which, under normal or reasonably foreseeable use, including its duration, does not present any risk to health or safety of persons, or only minimal risk compatible with the use of the good or service and found within an acceptable level of health protection and safety of persons.
Article 12. Information to consumers and users about the risks of the goods or services.
1. Employers shall inform users in advance and by appropriate means on the risks that could come from a foreseeable use of goods and services, given their nature, characteristics, duration and the people they are intended, according as provided in Article 18 and regulations that may apply.
2. Chemicals and all items that carry substances that are classified as dangerous must be packaged with appropriate security guarantees and clearly display the appropriate signs that warn of the risk involved in their handling.
Article 13. Other specific obligations for the protection of health and safety of consumers and users.
Any employer involved in the provision of goods and services to consumers and users shall, within the limits of their respective activities, to respect the following rules:
a. The prohibition on holding or storing products not statutorily permitted or prohibited on the premises or facilities of production, processing, storage or transportation of food or drink.
b. Maintaining the necessary control so you can quickly and effectively check the origin, distribution, use and utilization of potentially unsafe goods, which contain substances classified as dangerous or subject to the requirements of traceability.
c. The ban on doorstep selling drinks and food, without prejudice of allocation, distribution or supply of those items purchased or ordered by consumers in those businesses authorized for sale to the public, and without prejudice of the system of direct sales to home which are traditionally practiced in certain areas of the country.
d. Compliance with regulations established by the local authorities or, where appropriate, the autonomous communities on the cases, terms and conditions for hawking of beverages and foods.
e. The prohibition on supply of goods without the required safety markings or the minimum data that will enable the identification of the owner of the good.
f. To withdraw, suspend or recover from consumers and users through effective means, any good or service that does not conform to the conditions and requirements, or that by any other cause will suppose a foreseeable risk to health or safety of people.
g. The ban on importing products which fail to comply with this rule and related regulations.
h. Demands for control of manufactured goods likely to affect the physical safety of individuals, providing in this regard the due attention to the repair and maintenance services.
i. The ban on using ingredients, equipment and other items likely to generate risks to health and safety of persons. In particular, the prohibition to use such materials or elements in the construction of units of residential and/or public use.
Article 14. Regulations for goods and services.
1. The rules governing the different goods and services determine the following aspects to the extent required to ensure the health and safety of consumers and users:
a. The concepts, definitions, nature, characteristics and classifications.
b. The conditions and requirements of facilities and qualified personnel in charge.
c. The usual treatments or procedures of manufacture, distribution and marketing, permitted, prohibited or subject to prior authorization.
d. The specific rules on advertising.
e. The essential safety requirements, including those relating to composition and quality.
f. The official methods of analysis, sampling, quality control and inspection.
g. Warranties, liabilities, violations and penalties.
h. The system of authorization, recording and reviewing.
2. In order to protect the health and safety of consumers and users the government may establish regulatory measures regarding production and marketing of goods and services, particularly in regard to their control, monitoring and inspection.
Article 15. Administrative actions.
1. In situations of risk to health and safety of consumers and users, government authorities may take all the necessary measures for the disappearing of the risk, including direct intervention on things and compulsion on people. In these cases, all costs that are incurred shall be borne by the persons whose conduct caused the risk, regardless of sanctions, if any, that may be imposed. The levy of such charges and penalties may be carried out by the administrative procedure of enforcement.
2. The government, reflecting the nature and severity of risks identified, may inform consumers and users affected by the most appropriate mean with information on risks or irregularities, the good or service concerned and, where appropriate, measures, and the safety precautions being taken, both to protect themselves from risk, as for their cooperation in eliminating its causes.
3. Those responsible for the coordination of state systems for exchanging information integrated into the European warning system, will communicate all the information to the customs authorities when, according to information provided in the communications, the risky products or services come from third countries.
Article 16. Extraordinary measures in situations of urgency and necessity.
Exceptionally, in those situations of extreme gravity that produce an indiscriminate aggression against health and safety of consumers and users in more than one autonomous community ( region) , the Government may constitute for the time necessary to stop the situation, a body for integration and participation of affected regions, which will assume all the administrative powers in order to ensure the health and safety of people, their economic and social interests, the repairing of caused damages, accountability and the publication of results.
Roman ruins and beach in Bolonia (Tarifa) by Salva Mendez at Flickr.com