The UK Office for Product Safety and Standards has this week published its long-awaited Code of Practice for Product Recalls. Prepared in conjunction with the UK’s national standards body, the British Standards Institute, the Code of Practice is a unique document in Europe and is likely to prove very influential beyond the UK’s shores. It introduces a measure of certainty into what is expected of parties involved in recalls and other safety issues, and will provide an important point of reference for manufacturers, retailers and market surveillance authorities in the event they face a safety issue.
The Code lays out what is expected of a manufacturer when managing a product safety issue, as well as what it is expected to do proactively to be prepared for such an event. The document also sets out what is expected of the enforcement authorities when managing a safety issue.
Cooley’s Rod Freeman served on the multi-stakeholder Steering Committee that prepared this document over the course of the past year.
The Code of Practice is the first major guidance produced by the OPSS and follows its first enforcement action, which we reported here.
The Government’s press release is available here.
The Code of Practice is available to buy from the British Standard Institute here.
