Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade - Notification - Italy - Car seat reminder devices for vehicles

NOTIFICATION

The following notification is being circulated in accordance with Article 10.6

 

1.

Notifying Member: Italy

If applicable, name of local government involved (Article 3.2 and 7.2):

2.

Agency responsible: Ministero dello sviluppo economico

Name and address (including telephone and fax numbers, email and website addresses, if available) of agency or authority designated to handle comments regarding the notification shall be indicated if different from above:

Ministry for economic development

General Directorate for Market, Competition, Consumer, Vigilance and Technical Regulations

Division XIII - Technical regulation

00187 Rome I - Via Sallustiana, 53

tel. ++39 06 4705.5330

tbt.italia@mise.gov.it

European Commission TBT Enquiry Point: GROW-EU-TBT@ec.europa.eu

3.

Notified under Article 2.9.2 [X], 2.10.1 [ ], 5.6.2 [ ], 5.7.1 [ ], other:

4.

Products covered (HS or CCCN where applicable, otherwise national tariff heading. ICS numbers may be provided in addition, where applicable): Car seat reminder devices for vehicles from international categories M1, N1, N2 and N3

5.

Title, number of pages and language(s) of the notified document: Draft Ministerial Decree on car seat reminder systems (6 page(s), in Italian)

6.

Description of content: Law No 117 of 1 October 2018 introduced the obligation for drivers of vehicles from international categories M1, N1, N2 and N3 residing in Italy and transporting with them children under 4 years of age, with the required restraint systems, to use a specific car seat reminder alarm device that prevents minors from being left behind in the vehicle. The same regulation called for the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport (MIT) to set out the technical build and functional specifications for such devices through the adoption of a specific decree.

Accordingly, the notified draft Decree was drawn up, consisting of ten articles and two annexes, which establishes the technical/functional specifications for such alarms and lays down the procedures for verifying their compliance.

In summary, the first five articles lay down: the definitions used, the scope of application of the Decree and the general characteristics; they state that car seat reminder devices must comply with the technical build and functional specifications set out in Annex A and are subject to verification and certification. The next three articles contain requirements for the manufacturer and for certification of the applicable quality system and provisions for the recognition of accredited verification and certification bodies. Articles 9 and 10 identify the designated authority for market oversight per Regulation (EC) No 765/2008 and the transitional provisions applied for verifying the compliance of the car seat reminder devices pending the specific accreditation of the organizations.

The Decree includes the following annexes:

Annex A: Technical build and functional specifications

Annex B: Certificate of conformity template (Article 6 of the Regulation)

7.

Objective and rationale, including the nature of urgent problems where applicable: The notified standards need to be adopted because the types of devices in question are not currently covered by specific technical specifications harmonized at European Union level.

8.

Relevant documents: References to basic texts:

·         Law No 117 of 1 October 2018

·         Legislative Decree No 285 of 30 April 1992 (Highway Code) - Article 172

9.

Proposed date of adoption: April 2019

Proposed date of entry into force: April 2019

10.

Final date for comments: 23 April 2019

11.

Texts available from: National enquiry point [X] or address, telephone and fax numbers and email and website addresses, if available, of other body:

Text online at: http://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/tris/en/search (Notification number: 2019/22/I)  

and/or at: http://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/tbt/en/search

https://members.wto.org/crnattachments/2019/TBT/ITA/19_0730_00_x.pdf

https://members.wto.org/crnattachments/2019/TBT/ITA/19_0730_01_x.pdf

https://members.wto.org/crnattachments/2019/TBT/ITA/19_0730_02_x.pdf