The surveillance was conducted on 18 September 2024. The Directorate for Civil Protection and Emergency Planning (DSB) participated as an observer.
Background
The EU Regulation on Market Surveillance and Compliance of Products is incorporated into Norwegian law through the EEA Goods Act. The purpose of the regulation is to strengthen surveillance of products covered by harmonised goods regulations with a view to ensuring that only goods that comply with applicable regulations are sold in the internal market.
Havtil is the market surveillance authority responsible for the regulations that implement harmonised product directives, notably the Machinery Directive, the Pressure Equipment Directive and the ATEX Directive (equipment and protective systems intended for use in potentially explosive atmospheres). The Directives also apply to products for use in petroleum activities within the EEA, i.e. in principle, activities at onshore facilities and on fixed facilities offshore.
Market surveillance is an obligation incumbent on the national authorities to ensure that only safe products are marketed in Norway. Market surveillance is performed by proactive or reactive market inspections that entail checking that products meet applicable safety requirements. Reactive market surveillance is performed primarily in response to incidents or suspicions that products do not meet the legal requirements.
Objective
The objective of the market surveillance was to audit how MRC Global’s department in Hokksund complies with regulatory requirements for equipment covered by the regulations on pressure equipment.
Result
One non-conformity was identified during the audit: This concerned:
- The distributor’s obligations
We also observed one factor that we have chosen to categorise as an improvement point. This concerned:
- The manufacturer’s obligations
What happens now?
We have asked MRC Global to report by 1 December 2024 on how the non-conformity will be addressed and for their assessment of the improvement point observed.