NETHERLANDS Law and Practice Contributed by: Eva Schothorst-Gransier, Claims Made Advocatuur
ment, community service, or a criminal penalty of EUR25,750 (category 4). Failure to cooperate with the authorities is regarded as a serious offence. It can lead to three months of imprisonment or a criminal fine of EUR5,150 (category 2). Failure to comply with an administrative order to withdraw or recall products is regarded as a crime (misdrijf). It can lead to 2 years imprison - ment, community service or a criminal penalty of EUR25,750 (category 4). In exceptional circumstances involving intent or gross negligence, large companies can be sub - ject to an administrative fine related to annu - al turnover. As of 1 January 2024, this fine is capped at EUR1,030,000 per violation (category 6). According to the NVWA’s intervention policy, in principle, a maximum of five violations will be fined per inspection (per location). Consequent - ly, in principle a maximum fine of EUR5,150,000 million can be imposed. In the Fipronil case, where millions of eggs were unlawfully infected with Fipronil, the Court of Overijssel sentenced two board members to one year of imprisonment. These board mem - bers neglected food safety, resulting in health risks, environmental damage, and significant economic loss ( District Court Overijssel 12 April 2021, ECLI:NL:RBOVE:2021:1508 ). A well-known Dutch retail company selling pri - vate label power banks with a risk of explo - sion was imposed by the NVWA with a fine of EUR871,590 in total for: (i) unlawfully selling dangerous powerbanks; (ii) not taking appropriate measures to prevent the risk, such as carrying out research on
the cause of potential explosion; and (iii) non-compliance with the duty to immedi - ately notify the NVWA after becoming aware of the risk. For each of these non-compliances, a stand - ard fine of EUR1,590 was applied at the time, though for breaches (i) and (iii), the NVWA had applied the administrative fine related to the annual turnover, so 2x EUR435,000, stating gross negligence. According to the Rotterdam District Court, a fine of EUR870,000 was right - fully imposed for breach (i) and (iii). The Court did follow the retailer’s objection against a fine of EUR1,590 for the alleged breach (ii). Due to the exceeding of a reasonable period, the total fine was reduced to EUR795,000 ( Rotterdam District Court 18 July 2024, ECLI:NL:RBROT:2024:6624 ) 2. Product Liability 2.1 Product Liability Causes of Action and Sources of Law In the Netherlands, the causes of action for product liability are based on the Dutch Civil Code (DCC). Strict Liability Article 6:185 of the DCC includes the lex specia - lis. Based on this article, a manufacturer can be held liable for damages resulting from a defec - tive product. This strict liability applies only to cases involving death, personal injury or prop - erty damage caused by the defective product to another item intended for private use or con - sumption. The injured party must have primarily obtained the product for their own private use or consumption. For this kind of property damage, a threshold of EUR500 applies.
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