September 2004
The Bulgarian State Agency of Metrology and Technical Supervision has withdrawn from the market, prevented further sales and imports of electric kettles AK 510 and 533. These kettles were fitted with copies of the STRIX control system made by Liang Ji from China.
Further investigations are ongoing into Elite, Optimum, Mia and Alaska kettles.

September 2004
China Integration into WTO
In September a EU China WTO conference was held in Beijing as part of the ongoing consultation process on Industrial Products. The parties were led by Madame Wang Fengqing, Vice Minister CNCA of China, and Mr Jean Paul Mingasson, Director General Enterprise, European Commission. China Compulsory Certification and its effect on European Industry was discussed at length. STRIX gained support from delegates regarding the emphasis required on Market Surveillance in the local China market and gained assurances that electrical products without CCC or not conforming to the requirements of CCC will be removed from the market. Local Technical Supervision Bureaux (TSB) are responsible for market surveillance.

Yong Heng/Trispring
Yong Heng/Trispring product S11-6, the cordless connector, has had the CCC approval removed. This connector allows access to live parts and has been the subject of safety actions in Poland, Czech Republic, Russia, China, Germany, Holland and Malaysia. Kettles fitted with the component are of course now open to enforcement action.

S 11-6

Ningbo Sunlight
STRIX believes that Sunlight product SLT 102 infringes patents registered in China and is therefore taking action to protect its interests.

September 2004
COI, the Czech Government body responsible for the safety of electrical goods on the market have recently undergone significant managerial changes. STRIX believes this will mean more effective Market Surveillance and control implied of course with the accession of the Czech Republic to the European Union on May 1st 2004. Consumer Organisations are taking up the case of unsafe kettles also to further press the authorities. The Ministry of Industry and Trade supervising COI have always expressed keen support for the improvement of the safety of retail electrical goods.

September 2004
The General Product Safety Directive 2001/95/EC has been implemented in Finland with the effect of empowering customs officers to prevent the import and transhipment of unsafe goods. This is particularly important in the STRIX fight against electric kettles fitted with copies of the STRIX system to Eastern Europe as it removes the burden on market surveillance authorities by rejecting unsafe goods at the port.

September 2004
Closely following the safety notice issued for their WK 3435 range of stainless steel kettles, German brand Severin had to issue a further safety notice regarding their kettle reference 3480. WK 3435 kettles subject to the safety notice were fitted with Yong Heng/Trispring components S11-5 and S11-6, the 3480 kettles subject to the second safety notice were fitted with controls from a manufacturer in China by the name of Ketsol.
Legal action was taken against German distributors of "Shou Classic Elkedel", "Concor F98", "Concor F2010", and Conson F9803, and in all cases further sales were prevented. These kettles were fitted with controls which infringe STRIX patents.

Concor F98

Concor F2010

September 2004
Legal action continues against Inalsa and Usha brands who import kettles fitted with copies of the STRIX system. STRIX has developed a special product for the Indian market which will be launched later in the year.

September 2004
Kettle brand Kenon HEM 168, fitted with Yong Heng/Trispring controls which allow access to live parts has been prevented from access to the market. The Yong Heng/Trispring products used in this kettle, S11-5 and S11-6 have had had their Fimko Safety certificates withdrawn.

September 2004
The Malaysian Energy Commission and Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs are continuing their crackdown on the sale of unsafe electric goods. Monthly raids are taking place countrywide. Misuse of safety labels is commonplace, but under the crackdown, fines of up to 250,000 Ringit per infringement are faced by infringers. STRIX have found from recent surveys that Makro and Giant stores offer large numbers of kettles fitted with copies of the STRIX system. Elba kettle ref: JK 1807 has been found for sale with Yong Heng/Trispring S11-5 and S11-6 components. The Sirim approval for the kettle is currently under review based on the CCC withdrawal from the components.

September 2004
Voedsel en Waren Autoriteit, the new Dutch Safety Authority is currently considering the case of Severin 3435 kettles on sale in Holland. These kettles were recently the subject of safety action in Germany where sales were ceased and the manufacturer issued a public safety notice. They were fitted with unsafe cordless connector manufactured by Yong Heng/Trispring from Shunde in China.

September 2004
Elco Millennium EL 131
Elco Millennium EL 131 branded kettles were found on sale in Warsaw fitted with a 2-pin supply cord, i.e. with no earthing lead. Electric kettles of this type are fundamentally a Class 1 appliance as defined in the European Standards and require a protective earthing circuit. The Office for Competition and Consumer Protection in Warsaw has undertaken proceedings against the distributor based on the Basic Products Safety Act of Poland.