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Respond to a product safety incident

Emergency guidance when you discover an unsafe product. Stop supply immediately, notify Trading Standards and OPSS, manage the recall, and understand your legal exposure under the Consumer Protection Act 1987.

Retail & Consumer Goods Manufacturing & Engineering Running Updated 2 November 2026

You have a product safety problem

Whether you have identified the risk yourself, received consumer complaints about injuries, or been contacted by Trading Standards, you must act immediately. Speed matters. Prompt voluntary action limits harm and is treated far more favourably by enforcement authorities than delay.

Stop supply and assess the risk

Remove the product from sale, warehouse shelves, and any distribution channels. Contact every business you have supplied and instruct them to do the same. Segregate affected stock clearly and do not destroy it -- it may be needed as evidence. Identify the batch codes, model numbers, and estimated number of units in circulation.

Recall process and PAS 7100

A structured risk assessment determines whether you need a full consumer recall or a supply-chain withdrawal. OPSS provides the PRISM methodology for consistent risk evaluation.

An enforcement authority can serve a withdrawal notice (regulation 14) or a recall notice (regulation 15) where it has reasonable grounds for believing a product is a dangerous product. A recall notice applies to a product already supplied to consumers and can be served only if other action under the regulations would not be enough to prevent the risks.

Withdrawal notice

Bars placing the product on the market or supplying it without the authority's consent (reg 14)

Recall notice

Requires reasonable endeavours to organise return of the product from consumers (reg 15)

Conditions for recall

Other action would not suffice; the producer's or distributor's action is unsatisfactory; at least 10 days' notice of intention (reg 15(4))

Urgent cases

Serious risk needing urgent action: the 10 days' notice and the unsatisfactory-action test do not apply (reg 15(5))

What a recall notice can require
A recall notice can require the recipient to carry out a recall under an applicable code of practice, or to contact purchasers where practicable, publish a notice warning of the risk and the recall, or arrange collection, return or disposal of the product (regulation 15(2)).

10-day notice

The authority must notify the intended recipient; on request it must take advice from the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (reg 15(4)(c))

Product Recalls and Alerts (opens in a new tab)
Notify Trading Standards and OPSS
You have a legal duty to notify your local Trading Standards authority without delay. You can notify while still gathering information -- initial notification followed by fuller details is acceptable. Do not wait until you have a complete picture.
Notification obligations

Regulation 9 of the General Product Safety Regulations 2005 requires producers and distributors to notify authorities when they know a product poses risks to consumers. Failure to notify is a criminal offence.
Under the General Product Safety Regulations 2005 (GPSR), a producer or distributor who knows that a product it has placed on the market or supplied poses risks incompatible with the general safety requirement must notify an enforcement authority in writing immediately. This applies to consumer products in Great Britain.
The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) is the national product safety regulator. Enforcement authorities record notifications on the Product Safety Database, and OPSS publishes product recalls and safety reports on the Product Recalls and Alerts website.

Primary legislation

General Product Safety Regulations 2005 (SI 2005/1803)

Notification duty (regulation 9)

A producer or distributor who knows a product poses risks incompatible with the general safety requirement must notify an enforcement authority in writing immediately

Who must notify

Producers and distributors who know of the risk

Notification recipient

An enforcement authority, usually your local Trading Standards service

Product Safety Database

Used by enforcement authorities to notify the Secretary of State; businesses do not record notifications on it

Regulator

Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS), part of the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade

Information required in a notification
The notification must set out the action taken to prevent risk to consumers. In the event of a serious risk it must also include information enabling the product or batch to be precisely identified, a full description of the risks, all available information for tracing the product, and a description of the action taken (regulation 9(3)).

Product identification

Precise identification of the product or batch

Risk description

Full description of the risks the product presents

Traceability information

All available information for tracing the product

Action taken

Description of action taken to prevent risk to consumers

Timing

Immediately (forthwith) once you know of the risk

Types of corrective action
The action you take depends on the risk. The main levels are:
Stop sale: halt further distribution of the product
Withdrawal: remove the product from the supply chain, including wholesalers and retailers
Recall: retrieve the product from consumers who have already bought it
A producer must take measures that let it be informed of the risks its products might pose and take appropriate action, including withdrawal, warning consumers or, as a last resort, recall (regulation 7(3)). A manufacturer that finds a product it sold is a safety risk must contact all the consumers it knows are affected, and remedies can include new instructions, modifying the product or a refund.

Recall notices
An enforcement authority that has reasonable grounds for believing a product is dangerous and has already been supplied to consumers can serve a recall notice. It requires the recipient to use reasonable endeavours to organise the return of the product from consumers (regulation 15). The notice can require the recipient to contact consumers who have bought the product, publish a notice to bring the risk to their attention, and make arrangements for collection, return or disposal.

Notification channels

Company website, social media, press releases, point-of-sale notices and direct contact where customer records exist

Recall notice content

Product description, hazard, risk to consumers, what to do and who to contact

Best practice

PAS 7100:2022, the BSI code of practice for product recall and other corrective actions

GOV.UK publication

OPSS publishes product recalls and safety reports on Product Recalls and Alerts

Suspension notices

An enforcement authority can stop a product being supplied while it carries out safety checks (regulation 11)

Record keeping
Producers must take measures enabling them to trace their products. Where and to the extent that it is reasonable, they must sample-test marketed products and investigate, and if necessary keep a register of, complaints about product safety (regulation 7(4)). Distributors must keep the documentation needed to trace the origin of a product (regulation 8(1)(b)).

Producer records

Product reference or batch on the product or packaging, and sample testing and complaints where reasonable

Distributor records

Documentation to trace the origin of products supplied

Recall records

Actions taken, consumer responses and products recovered

Civil liability
Manufacturers, and sometimes others in the supply chain, are liable under the Consumer Protection Act 1987 if an unsafe product causes personal injury, death or damage to private property. Liability under the Act is strict: you do not have to prove negligence.

Product Safety Alerts, Reports and Recalls (opens in a new tab)
How to manage a product recall

Full guide to your notification obligations, working with Trading Standards and OPSS, the recall process step by step, and consumer communication requirements.
Withdraw or recall the product

Withdrawal removes the product from the supply chain before it reaches consumers. Recall retrieves products already sold to consumers. If consumers already hold the product, you need to recall it, not just withdraw it. Cooperate fully with Trading Standards on the appropriate level of action -- voluntary cooperation is always better than enforcement.

Prepare a clear recall notice that identifies the affected product, explains the hazard in plain language, tells consumers to stop using it, and offers a remedy (repair, replacement, or refund) at no cost to them.

Record retention for recalls

Keep all recall documentation for at least 10 years. Product liability claims can be brought for up to 10 years after supply, and you may need this evidence to establish a statutory defence.

Product regulations require manufacturers and importers to keep technical documentation and the UK Declaration of Conformity so they can show an enforcing authority that a product conforms. In the Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 2016 the period is 10 years beginning on the day each product is placed on the market, so the clock runs separately for each product, batch or unit supplied. Other product regulations typically use the same period; check the regulations for your product.

Technical documentation

10 years from each product being placed on the market

UK Declaration of Conformity

10 years from each product being placed on the market

Manufacturer monitoring register

At least 10 years from the entry being made

Who keeps the documentation

Manufacturer; importer; authorised representative where the mandate covers it

Product safety advice for businesses - GOV.UK (opens in a new tab)
Understand your legal exposure

A product safety incident creates both criminal and civil liability risks. Criminal prosecution can follow from breaching the General Product Safety Regulations or the Consumer Protection Act 1987. Civil claims from injured consumers operate under strict liability -- they do not need to prove you were at fault, only that the product was defective and caused damage.

Strict liability under the CPA 1987

Part I of the Consumer Protection Act 1987 imposes strict liability on producers, own-brand suppliers, and importers. Claimants need only prove the product was defective and caused damage. You cannot exclude this liability by contract.

Part I of the Consumer Protection Act 1987 (CPA 1987) makes producers, own-branders and importers liable for damage caused wholly or partly by a defect in a product, without the injured person having to prove negligence. Damage means death, personal injury or loss of or damage to property. Property damage is not recoverable where the loss does not exceed £275 (section 5(4)). Part I was enacted to comply with the product liability Directive (section 1(1)).

Liability standard

Liable for damage caused wholly or partly by a defect (s.2(1)); no need to prove negligence

Claimable damage

Death, personal injury, or damage to property intended for private use (not the product itself) above £275

Exclusion prohibited (s.7)

Liability cannot be limited or excluded by any contract term, notice or other provision

Definition of defect (s.3)
A product has a defect if its safety is not such as persons generally are entitled to expect. All the circumstances are taken into account, including how the product was marketed and presented (with any instructions or warnings), what might reasonably be expected to be done with it, and when it was supplied by its producer. A later, safer product does not of itself mean the earlier one was defective.

Safety expectation test

What persons generally are entitled to expect, in all the circumstances (s.3)

Marketing and presentation

How the product was marketed, including instructions and warnings

Foreseeable use

What might reasonably be expected to be done with the product

Time of supply

The time the producer supplied the product

Later, safer product

Does not of itself make the earlier product defective

Who is liable (s.2)
The producer of the product is liable. So is anyone who puts their name, trade mark or other distinguishing mark on it, holding themselves out as the producer, and anyone who imports it into the United Kingdom in the course of business to supply it to another (section 2(2)). A supplier is liable if, within a reasonable time of being asked by the injured person, it fails to identify one of those persons or the person who supplied the product to it (section 2(3)). Where more than one person is liable for the same damage, liability is joint and several (section 2(5)).

Limitation - England and Wales

3 years from accrual or the claimant's knowledge, whichever is later (Limitation Act 1980, s.11A)

Limitation - Scotland

3 years from when the claimant knew, or could reasonably have known, the facts (1973 Act, s.22B)

Longstop

10 years from the "relevant time" under section 4 CPA 1987; the right is then extinguished

Property damage threshold

No damages where the loss does not exceed £275 (s.5(4)); no minimum for personal injury

Product definition (s.1(2))

Any goods or electricity, including a product comprised in another product

Product safety advice for businesses (opens in a new tab)

Understand UK product safety law

Three sets of rules can apply to the same product failure: a duty to supply only safe consumer products, strict liability for injury or damage caused by a defective product, and criminal offences enforced by Trading Standards.

Product liability and insurance

How strict liability works in practice, what statutory defences are available, and why products liability insurance is essential for your business.
Prevent it happening again

Once the immediate incident is resolved, conduct an internal review. Identify the root cause of the defect, assess whether your quality control processes should have caught it earlier, and update your testing and inspection procedures. Document everything. If you supply other markets, check whether the same product needs action there.

Notify your products liability insurer of the incident if you have not already done so. Many policies require prompt notification as a condition of cover.

Northern Ireland

The Windsor Framework

Under the Windsor Framework, the EU General Product Safety Regulation 2023/988 applies to products placed on the market here, not the General Product Safety Regulations 2005.

Windsor Framework guidance (GOV.UK) (opens in a new tab)

Product safety law in Northern Ireland

Which general product safety rules apply and where to get advice.

In Northern Ireland, Regulation (EU) 2023/988 on general product safety has applied since 13 December 2024 under the Windsor Framework. The General Product Safety Regulations 2005 are the framework for Great Britain, and sector-specific rules are applied differently in Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

General product safety law

Regulation (EU) 2023/988, applying in Northern Ireland from 13 December 2024

Advice for businesses

Local authority Environmental Health in Northern Ireland

Safety Gate

The EU rapid alert system; authorities notify serious-risk corrective measures through it under Article 26 of the Regulation

Product liability

The EU Product Liability Directive (EU) 2024/2853 will apply to relevant products placed on the market or put into service in Northern Ireland after 9 December 2026; the Consumer Protection (Northern Ireland) Order 1987 continues to apply until the regime is updated

Product safety advice for businesses (opens in a new tab)

Official guidance

Product Safety Alerts, Reports and Recalls (opens in a new tab)

Search current recalls and report an unsafe product

OPSS

Product safety advice for businesses (opens in a new tab)

OPSS guidance on producer and distributor obligations

OPSS

Find your local Trading Standards office (opens in a new tab)

Contact your local enforcement authority

GOV.UK

General Product Safety Regulations 2005 (opens in a new tab)

Primary product safety regulations for Great Britain

legislation.gov.uk

Consumer Protection Act 1987 (opens in a new tab)

Strict liability for defective products and criminal offences

legislation.gov.uk

PAS 7100 - Product Recall Code of Practice (opens in a new tab)

www.bsigroup.com

Product safety and noncompliance notification guidance (opens in a new tab)

Publication · GOV.UK

General Product Safety Regulations 2005 - detailed guidance (opens in a new tab)

Publication · OPSS · Great Britain

Regulation (EU) 2023/988 on general product safety (opens in a new tab)

eur-lex.europa.eu

Respond to a product safety incident

You have a product safety problem

Stop supply and assess the risk

Notify Trading Standards and OPSS

How to manage a product recall

Withdraw or recall the product

Understand your legal exposure

Understand UK product safety law

Product liability and insurance

Prevent it happening again

Official guidance

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