Member-only story
My Eye-Opening Experience on World Consumer Rights Day
Exploring the importance of market surveillance and the role it plays in protecting consumer rights

Today is World Consumer Rights Day, and as someone who has worked on EU-funded market surveillance projects in the past, I can tell you this is no easy feat.
During my time working on EU-funded market surveillance projects in Brussels, I learned a lot about this topic
As part of my role, I collaborated with European market surveillance authorities (MSAs) to ensure products and services met safety standards.
The projects’ technical experts worked with MSAs from several member states to test a wide range of toys and identify any potential hazards, such as small parts that could pose a choking risk or the presence of toxic materials.
When they found a problem, those MSAs would work with manufacturers to help them address the issue and make their products safer for children.
It was incredibly satisfying to know I was making a real difference in protecting consumers.
Furthermore, working in Brussels meant collaborating with people from all over Europe, and sometimes communication wasn’t a problem, as we were all fluent in English.