La Commission incitée à élever les normes de sécurité pour les iPod

Consumer organisations pushed for a "more coherent regulatory approach" to protecting PMP users from the risk of hearing damage. 

ANEC, the European Association for the Co-ordination of Consumer Representation in Standardisation, said new standards were needed to "provide consumers with certainty and confidence in the safety of sound pressure limits of music players and similar devices". 

"We need a coherent set of European standards that allow innovation and consumer protection," said ANEC Director Stephen Russell. In particular, he called for a "framework of market surveillance of the EU" and insists that it should "not be left to member states to resource market surveillance under subsidiarity". 

Mobile phone manufacturer Nokia, however, claimed that enough regulation was in place to meet the safety standards of PMPs. The company pointed out that PMPs already "fell within the scope of the Radio and Telecommunications Equipment Directive". 

Mark Bogers, a Commission official, also argued that new safety legislation would be "disproportionate", saying that current EU product safety legislation "should take into account the risks of hearing damage that PMP users face. The real question is whether the concrete concerns about exposure to high levels should be translated into technical requirements and measures focused on correct use," he stated. 

Towards safety warning labels?  

Consumer organisations also pushed for label hearing safety warnings to be added to PMPs. The Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNIDP) insisted that "on-pack warning labels" were needed to inform consumers about the risk of hearing damage. 

ANEC also said that warning labels were necessary, but insisted that they "should not be used as an alternative to placing safe products on the market". 

Nokia, however, argued that warning labels are not effective enough and claimed that with the technologies currently available, "we should have more innovative and effective ways to communicate" to consumers. 

RNIDP Director Emma Harrison said "noise is the biggest preventable cause of hearing loss" and "we need to encourage people to value their hearing". Thus she claimed that PMPs should have "on-pack-warning labels" and that "clear and prominent warnings within guides should be referenced to sources of more information". 

Nokia spokesperson Pekka Heikkinen believes that a "one-solution-for-all approach may not be the right way forward" and that rather than labelling PMPs, there should be "more innovative and effective ways of communicating hearing safety information to consumers".