Nearly 5,000 dangerous products in 2025, a cosmetics share of 36%, and authorities increasingly targeting online commerce — the EU Safety Gate is far more than a warning system. It is a precise barometer for the safety landscape in the European consumer goods market.
The following analysis is based on complete notification data from 2011 to 2025 and is illustrated by an interactive animation that makes the shifts between product categories visible over this period.
The EU rapid alert system for dangerous non-food products has existed in its current form since the General Product Safety Directive came into force in 2004. Launched at the time under the name RAPEX (Rapid Exchange of Information System), it was initially primarily a tool for authorities — a network for the rapid exchange of information between national market surveillance authorities and the European Commission.
The decisive step towards public accessibility came in 2018: the Commission renamed the system Safety Gate and modernised it substantially. Since then, data has been available in 25 languages, notifications can be shared directly on social media, and a convenient search function allows consumers, businesses, and buyers to search specifically for certain products or categories. What was previously only accessible as a weekly PDF report has since been available in a searchable database.
Our data analysis covers the period from 2011 to 2025 — showing the development over almost one and a half decades.
One of the most striking findings concerns the total number of notifications. Between 2011 and 2022, the annual notification count moved within a remarkably stable band:
The increase from 2023 onwards is no coincidence. It coincides with the expanded deployment of the eSurveillance web crawler, which automatically scans online marketplaces for notified products, as well as the gradual implementation of the new EU General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR). Authorities are not notifying more because products are becoming less safe — they are notifying more efficiently.
Those who watch the animation will notice a remarkable consistency in the early years: clothing and toys alternately dominate the field from 2011 to 2022. Electrical appliances and motor vehicles follow at a considerable distance. This changes abruptly from 2023 onwards.
Toys: By far the category with the most notifications from 2013 to 2022. With peak values of 708 notifications (2018), toys were associated with quality issues related to small parts, chemical additives, and electrical components. From 2023, the category drops to second place — not because the numbers decline, but because cosmetics explode.
Clothing & Textiles: In 2012, the absolute leader with 670 notifications — a historic high that has since been reduced to almost 146 notifications (2025). This development reflects improved supply chain controls and growing compliance expertise in the fashion industry.
Cosmetics: The most dramatic category in the entire analysis. From 56 notifications in 2021, the number rose to 1,103 in 2023 — a twentyfold increase in just two years. In 2024, 1,499 notifications were recorded; by 2025 already 1,684. In around 90% of cases, a single substance is the trigger: 2-(4-tert-butylbenzyl)propionaldehyde (BMHCA, also known as Lilial), a fragrance that has been banned in cosmetic products in the EU since March 2022. BMHCA can damage the reproductive system, harm the health of the unborn child, and cause skin sensitisation — yet it continues to be found in large quantities in products sold in the EU. The timing is unambiguous: with the ban coming into force in March 2022, authorities began systematic checks — and notification numbers exploded.
Beyond the major trends, the data contains some less obvious but substantively significant developments:
Protective Equipment and COVID-19: The Protective Equipment category recorded just 25 notifications in 2019 — and jumped to 176 in 2020. The reason: substandard respiratory masks and chemically contaminated disinfectants that flooded the market in the wake of the pandemic. In 2021, the number remained high at 161 notifications; by 2022 it had normalised again. A case study in how crisis situations expose compliance weaknesses.
Motor Vehicles on the Rise: The Motor Vehicles category grew from 174 notifications (2011) to a peak of 550 (2021), briefly becoming the most-notified category that year. The background is increased scrutiny of vehicle parts and accessories, particularly in the aftermarket segment.
Jewellery with an Unexpected Spike: Jewellery rose from 15 notifications (2011) to 185 (2021), a twelvefold increase. Chemical risks from nickel, lead, and cadmium in fashion jewellery — frequently from online sources — were the main concern. Since then, the numbers have declined again.
The development of the EU Safety Gate from 2011 to the present can be summarised in three key statements:
The next stage of development is already taking shape. With advancing digitalisation and the use of artificial intelligence, authorities will be able to identify dangerous products and formal violations faster and more comprehensively. The Digital Product Passport (DPP), which is being gradually introduced under the EU Ecodesign Regulation, will make product data machine-readable and verifiable by authorities — fundamentally facilitating the detection of compliance gaps.
For companies, this means: product compliance will no longer be a regulatory side issue dealt with through minimal effort. It will become a strategic competitive advantage — for those who invest early in systems, processes, and expertise.
trinasco supports companies on this journey — from the initial compliance analysis to the implementation of a complete product compliance management system.
Contact: produkt-compliance.de | 040 46 86 80 00 | info@produkt-compliance.de
Source: EU Safety Gate (RAPEX) Database, European Commission. Analysis and visualisation: trinasco GmbH.
What do you need to do now? Book our free initial consultation now.
Save €249!!
What do you need to do now? Book our free initial consultation now.
Save €249!!
Bei den Mühren 1
20457 Hamburg
040 46 86 80 00
Some images on this website were created using AI image generation and serve as illustrative representations of our services.