DENMARK Law and Practice Contributed by: Heidi Bloch, Rasmus Tommerup and Rasmus Estrup, Kennedys
1.5 Penalties for Breach of Product Safety Obligations The Danish Safety Technology Authority is granted a range of remedies over commercial operators to ensure compliance with the law’s requirements. If a product does not comply with product safety regu - lations, the Danish Safety Technology Authority can issue an enforcement notice against the commercial operator. Enforcement notices can be issued against all levels of the supply chain. For example, the Danish Safety Technology Authority can instruct the commercial operator to warn users about the risks associated with the product or to rem - edy conditions that do not comply with product safety regulations. Among the most intrusive enforcement notices are orders to cease sales, recalls, withdraw - als and destruction of products. Violations of prod - uct safety regulations can result in a fine or, in severe cases, imprisonment. As a starting point, fines begin at EUR6,700, but fines may be determined based on the expected profits from selling a dangerous product. Under aggravating circumstances, imprisonment of up to two years may be imposed. This could occur, for instance, when the product has caused serious personal injury, in cases of repeat offences or in instances of systematic viola - tions of the regulations. In a 2023 High Court judgment (Western High Court), a company was fined DKK50,000 for placing wall- mounted socket outlets on the market without docu - mentation demonstrating compliance with the appli - cable Danish standard. The court treated two closely related products as one infringement and confirmed a baseline fine of around EUR6,700 for first-time vio - lations. 2. Product Liability 2.1 Product Liability Causes of Action and Sources of Law In Denmark, personal injury and property damage are the main reasons for legal action in product liability matters.
effectively prevent damage or injuries resulting from the product’s use. However, this “voluntary” approach to determining the necessary measures must be viewed in the context of the Danish Safety Technol - ogy Authority’s ability to intervene and impose fur - ther measures if the commercial operator’s voluntary measures are deemed insufficient. 1.4 Obligations to Notify Regulatory Authorities A business operator who becomes aware that a prod - uct they have placed on the market is not safe when used in the usual and expected manner must imme - diately notify the Danish Safety Technology Authority and take the necessary measures. The obligation to notify the regulatory authority applies to all commercial operators involved in the supply chain. However, it is permitted for a single commer - cial operator in the supply chain to notify the Danish Safety Technology Authority, provided that the notifi - cation is sufficient. The notification to the Danish Safety Technology Authority should enable the authority to assess the risk, including whether the measures taken by the commercial operator to mitigate the risk are adequate. Therefore, the notification should typically include a description of the product and the risk. If the product is sold in several EU countries, the noti - fication to the authorities can be made as a joint com - munication to all relevant national authorities using the EU Commission’s Product Safety Business Alert Gateway. Regarding the deadline for notification, it should be made “immediately” when the commercial operator becomes aware that a product poses a safety risk. According to Danish law, this is interpreted as a rea - sonable and prompt action in relation to the specif - ic circumstances of the case, with an emphasis on whether the notification was made without undue delay after the business operator became aware of the safety risk associated with the product.
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