UK Law and Practice Contributed by: Simon Antrobus KC, Mike Atkins, Elizabeth Boon, Richard Sage, David Myhill and Alex Antelme KC, Crown Office Chambers
The following powers prevent the continued placing on the market or supply of the product: • prohibition notices, served under Section 13 of the CPA, prevent the recipient from supply - ing the product, or offering to do so, without the consent of the Secretary of State; • suspension notices, served under regulation 11 of the GPSR or Section 14 of the CPA, prevent the recipient from placing the product on the market or supplying it, or offering to do so, without the consent of the enforcement authority; and • improvement notices, served under Sec - tion 21 of the 1974 Act, require the recipient to take the action specified in the notice or some equally effective action to resolve an alleged breach of health and safety law. Such a notice could, in effect, prevent the con - tinued placing on the market or supply of a product where this would breach Section 6 of the 1974 Act. The following powers require the recipient to take steps to warn consumers of risks associ - ated with a product: • notices to warn, served under Section 13 of the CPA, require the recipient to publish a warning about any product they have sup - plied that is considered to be unsafe; • requirements to mark, served under regula - tion 12 of the GPSR, require the recipient to mark the product with a warning and/or to include a warning in the marketing of the product; • requirements to warn, served under regula - tion 13 of the GPSR, require the recipient to give warning, so far as is practicable, to any person who has already been supplied with the product, to publish a warning likely to come to the attention of such persons, and/or
to ensure that the product carries a warning; and • improvement notices, served under Section 21 of the 1974 Act, could require the provi - sion of information about risks (for instance, in compliance with the ongoing duty in Sec - tion 6 (1)). There are also powers requiring more significant corrective action, in the form of withdrawal and recall notices. Withdrawal Notices Withdrawal notices, served under regulation 14 of the GPSR, prevent the recipient from plac - ing the product on the market or supplying it, or offering to do so, without the consent of the enforcement authority. A withdrawal notice may also require the recipient to take action to alert consumers to the risks that the product pre - sents, and to keep the authority informed of the whereabouts of any such product in which the recipient has an interest. Given the significant impact of a withdrawal notice, where a product is already on the market, a withdrawal notice may only be served where the action being taken by the producer or distrib - utor concerned is unsatisfactory or insufficient to address the risk, unless the product poses a serious risk that the enforcement authority believes requires urgent action. Recall Notices Recall notices, served under regulation 15 of the GPSR, require the recipient to use reasonable endeavours to organise the return of the prod - uct from consumers either to them or to another person specified in the notice. The notice can require the recall to be effected in accordance with an applicable code of practice, or can specify the steps to be taken, which may include
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