General
The EU’s aim with market surveillance in the railway field
is to prevent the occurrence of non-interoperable products and to
stop frivolous importers, manufacturers and notified bodies. Market
surveillance is important for the integration of the markets in the
communities and for the confidence of consumers and companies in
the approval process. Market surveillance is only carried out on
subsystems and constituents covered by TSIs and which are therefore
necessary for interoperability. Market surveillance is carried out
by the safety authorities in the respective member state, in Sweden
by the Swedish Transport Agency.
Purpose
The purpose of market surveillance is to ensure that subsystems
and interoperability constituents that are put into the market
satisfy the essential requirements set out in TSIs, for instance
with regard to health, safety, reliability, availability,
compatibility and protection of the environment.
How is the surveillance done?
Market surveillance is done either when an interoperability
constituent is introduced on the market or alternatively when a
subsystem is approved (for freight wagons, at the time of
registration in Sweden). Market surveillance can also take the form
of inspection activity, after the component or subsystem has been
in use for a time.
Market surveillance is conducted as a spot check of the work
done by a notified body or, in other words: to check that
subsystems and constituents satisfy the interoperability
requirements as defined in TSIs. Market surveillance may reveal a
non-conformity, but may also show up shortcomings in TSIs or
standards, for instance.