1. The authorities of the Member States in charge of the control of products entering the Community market shall have the powers and resources necessary for the proper performance of their tasks. They shall carry out appropriate checks on the characteristics of products on an adequate scale, in accordance with the principles set out in Article 19(1), before those products are released for free circulation.
2. Where in a Member State more than one authority is responsible for market surveillance or external border controls, those authorities shall cooperate with each other, by sharing information relevant to their functions and otherwise as appropriate.
3. The authorities in charge of external border controls shall suspend release of a product for free circulation on the Community market when any of the following findings are made in the course of the checks referred to in paragraph 1:
(a)
the product displays characteristics which give cause to believe that the product, when properly installed, maintained and used, presents a serious risk to health, safety, the environment or any other public interest referred to in Article 1;
(b)
the product is not accompanied by the written or electronic documentation required by the relevant Community harmonisation legislation or is not marked in accordance with that legislation;
(c)
the CE marking has been affixed to the product in a false or misleading manner.
The authorities in charge of external border controls shall immediately notify the market surveillance authorities of any such suspension.
4. In the case of perishable products, the authorities in charge of external border controls shall, as far as possible, seek to ensure that any requirements they may impose with regard to the storage of products or the parking of vehicles used for transport are not incompatible with the preservation of those products.
5. For the purposes of this Section, Article 24 shall apply in respect of authorities in charge of external border controls, without prejudice to the application of Community law providing for more specific systems of cooperation between those authorities.