Common product safety issues

Note that there may be serious legal, financial, and reputational consequences for those businesses that place dangerous products on the European market.

• The media in the EU are interested in consumer protection related issues and a major product safety issue can be headline news
• Damage to the business reputation resulting in reduced sales
• EU-based distributors incurring costs associated with corrective actions are likely to seek compensation for their losses from the manufacturer
• Importers may be reluctant to deal with manufacturers of dangerous products and are likely to look for a reliable, safe source of supply.

It is, therefore, important for businesses to take proactive action if they become aware of any product safety issues as trying to hide the problem or delay corrective measures can cause significant reputational damage. 

EU-wide surveys show that consumer trust can actually increase as a result of a well-managed recall, so it is essential for economic operators to act quickly and transparently instead of waiting for an order from market surveillance authorities.

Reporting any unsafe products

If an economic operator suspects they have placed an unsafe product on the EU market, they have an obligation to immediately notify relevant national market surveillance authorities about the details and the corrective actions they intend to take. This can be done by:

1. Contacting the relevant authorities
   • List of authorities responsible for products falling under the General Product Safety Directive
   • List of authorities responsible for products falling under sector-specific legislation; or
2. Using a dedicated tool, the Product Safety Business Alert Gateway (Please note that to make a report on the Gateway, businesses require an EU login authentication and should read the explanatory notes for further details).

Carry out necessary corrective action(s)

Under the supervision of the market surveillance authorities, the appropriate corrective action(s) needs to be carried out. This can be triggered by the voluntary initiative of the economic operator responsible for placing the product on the market or ordered as a mandatory measure by the authorities.

Both voluntary and mandatory corrective actions can take several forms dependent upon the nature of the hazard, the level of risk identified, and the type of product involved:

• Making the marketing of a product subject to prior conditions in order to make it safe
• Requesting a technical repair or amendment of the product
• Banning the product from the market
• Destroying the product
• Withdrawing the product from the supply chain
• Recalling the product from consumers or other end users.

Economic operators should duly implement the corrective actions agreed with/mandated by market surveillance authorities and put in place a comprehensive monitoring system to assess their effectiveness.