The General Product Safety Regime
The General Product Safety Regulations impose strict legal requirements on both producers and distributors to ensure that only safe products are placed on the market. Failure to comply with these obligations — or to take proactive steps when a safety risk is identified — can result in criminal prosecution, significant financial penalties, mandatory product recalls, and the forced destruction of stock.
The Regulations are enforced by Trading Standards authorities. Investigations can arise from consumer complaints, product testing programmes, notifications from other EU or international authorities, or reports from within the supply chain.
Obligations of Producers
A producer's obligations extend beyond the moment of placing a product on the market. Producers are required to monitor the safety of products they have already supplied, including through sample testing and maintaining a formal register of safety-related complaints. Where a risk is identified after a product has been distributed, the producer must act promptly to notify Trading Standards and take appropriate remedial action.
Where a product carries risks that are not immediately obvious, producers must provide clear, legible, and durable warnings that enable the consumer to assess those risks throughout the entire period of the product's anticipated use.
Enforcement Action — Statutory Safety Notices
Trading Standards authorities have access to a range of notices to remove risks to consumer safety where voluntary action has failed or is insufficient:
- Suspension Notices: Temporarily prohibit the supply of a product while safety tests are conducted.
- Requirement to Mark or Warn: Order the producer to add specific warnings to a product or to target warnings at identified high-risk groups.
- Withdrawal Notices: Permanently prevent the further supply of a product found to be dangerous.
- Recall Notices: A power of last resort requiring the return of dangerous products from consumers who have already purchased them.
- Forfeiture and Destruction: Authorities may apply to a court for an order to seize and destroy dangerous goods.
Obligations of Distributors
A distributor — which includes retailers and wholesalers whose activities do not directly affect the safety characteristics of a product — has more limited obligations than a producer. However, distributors are required to monitor the safety of products they handle and must not supply products they know or ought to know are dangerous. Failure to take appropriate steps when a safety issue becomes apparent can give rise to criminal liability.
Criminal Liability
Non-compliance with the General Product Safety Regulations is a criminal offence. A conviction can result in a custodial sentence of up to 12 months and fines of up to £20,000 per offence. In addition to the criminal penalty, a conviction may require the business to fund a product recall, meet remediation costs, and face Trading Standards monitoring for a sustained period.
What to Do if You Are Under Investigation
If Trading Standards officers have attended your premises, seized products, or issued any form of safety notice, seek specialist legal advice immediately. Where a safety issue has been identified, taking prompt and documented remedial action and demonstrating genuine cooperation can be highly relevant both to the decision to prosecute and to any penalty imposed. Do not respond to formal notices or agree to any undertakings without legal advice.