L 74[32 Official Journal of the European Union 20.3.2009 COMMISSION COMMISSION DECISION of 17 March 2009 requiring Member States to ensure that products containing the biocide dimethylfumarate are not placed or made available on the market (notified under document number C(2009) 1723) (Text with EEA relevance) (2009/251/EC) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to Directive 2001/95/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 3 December 2001 on general product safety ('), and in particular Article 13 thereof, Having consulted the Member States, Whereas: Pursuant to Directive 2001/95/EC producers are obliged to place only safe consumer products on the market. Furniture and footwear available on the market in several Member States have been identified as the cause of damage to the health of consumers in France, Poland, Finland, Sweden and the UK. According to clinical tests the health damage was caused by the chemical dimethylfumarate (DMF), a biocide preventing moulds that may deteriorate leather furniture or footwear during storage or transport in a humid climate. () OJ L 11, 15.1.2002, p. 4. (4) DMF was most often contained in little pouches fixed inside the furniture or added to the footwear boxes. It thus evaporated and impregnated the product, protecting it from moulds. However, it then also affected consumers who were in contact with the products. DMF penetrated through the clothes onto consumers’ skin (%) where it caused painful skin contact dermatitis, including itching, irritation, redness, and burns; in some cases, acute respiratory troubles were reported. The dermatitis was particularly difficult to treat. The presence of DMF is thus a serious risk. Under Article 13 of Directive 2001/95/EC, if the European Commission becomes aware that certain products present a serious risk to the health and safety of consumers, it may, subject to certain conditions, adopt a decision requiring Member States to take measures intended in particular to restrict or make subject to specific conditions the availability on the market of such products. Such a decision may be adopted if (a) Member States differ significantly on the approach adopted or to be adopted to deal with the risk concerned; (b) the risk cannot, in view of the nature of the safety issue, be dealt with in a manner compatible with the degree of urgency of the case under other procedures laid down by the specific Community legislation applicable to the product concerned; and (c) the risk can be eliminated effectively only by adopting appropriate measures applicable at Community level, in order to ensure a consistent and high level of protection of the health and safety of consumers and the proper functioning of the internal market. () Williams ].D.L., et al. (2008), ‘An outbreak of furniture dermatitis in the UK, British Journal of Dermatology 159: p. 233-234.