UK Law and Practice Contributed by: Lisa Lunt and Sarah Samuel, Fletchers Solicitors
• improvement notices (Section 21, HSWA), requiring specified steps to remedy breaches, which may in practice prevent continued supply. Measures Requiring Warnings and Information Authorities may also require action to inform users and mitigate risks, including: • notices to warn (Section 13, CPA), which require the publication of warnings about unsafe products; • marking or warning requirements (Regulation 12, GPSR), which may require warnings to be placed on products, packaging or marketing materials; and • improvement notices under the HSWA, which may also require the provision of risk information to users. These measures may involve mandatory public com - munications, including advertising or targeted con - sumer warnings, where necessary to protect public safety. Withdrawal and Recall More intrusive measures are available where lesser action is insufficient: • Withdrawal notices (Regulation 14, GPSR) require removal of products from the supply chain and may include obligations to alert consumers and trace affected products. These are typically used where voluntary withdrawal is inadequate or the risk justifies formal intervention. • Recall notices (Regulation 15, GPSR) require busi - nesses to organise the return of products already supplied to consumers. Recall notices are gener - ally reserved for cases where: (a) other corrective measures would be inad - equate; (b) voluntary action has not been taken or is insuf - ficient; and (c) advance notice has been given, unless urgent action is required due to a serious risk. Recall notices may stipulate how the recall is con - ducted, including requirements relating to consumer contact, publication of warnings, and arrangements for collection, return or disposal of products.
Where a business fails to comply with a recall notice, or where no responsible economic operator can be identified, the enforcement authority may carry out the recall itself and recover the associated costs. 1.4 Obligations to Notify Regulatory Authorities In England and Wales, product safety notification obli - gations are primarily risk-based, meaning that busi - nesses are required to notify regulators when they become aware that a product may be unsafe, rather than only after an incident has occurred. However, incident-based reporting obligations also apply in cer - tain regulated sectors. Risk-Based Notification Under the GPSR Under Regulation 9 of the GPSR, notification is required where a producer or distributor knows, or ought reasonably to know, that a product they have placed on the market poses a risk to consumer safety and does not meet the general safety requirement. Key features of this obligation include the following: • The duty is triggered by awareness of risk and applies even if no accident, injury or damage has yet occurred. • Notification is not generally required for isolated or one-off issues with no wider safety implications. • Where sector-specific legislation does not impose its own notification requirements, the GPSR regime will ordinarily apply. Neither the CPA nor the HSWA imposes a general, standalone duty to notify product safety risks. How - ever, regulations made under Section 11 of the CPA may, in specific circumstances, require information to be provided to enforcement authorities, including details of potential safety concerns. Who must notify? The GPSR notification duty applies to: • producers, including manufacturers, own branders and importers; and • distributors within the supply chain.
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