Month: December 2023
New Product Liability Laws One Step Closer in Europe
Edward Turtle and Tracey Bischofberger
In an important step forward, last week the European Union reached provisional (political) agreement on the text for the proposed revision of the EU’s Product Liability Directive 85/374/EEC (PLD). The PLD establishes a strict liability (i.e., no fault) regime to enable claimants to seek compensation for defective products across the EU, meaning claimants do not need to establish fault to claim successfully. As a result, it is the preferred way of making product liability claims in the EU. The revision is a significant development, as the PLD dates back to 1985 and has been virtually unchanged for nearly 40 years – with only very minor amendments in 1999.
EU Reaches Political Agreement on Groundbreaking New Rules for Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Impacting US Companies
On 14 December 2023, the European Union (EU) announced that it had reached political agreement on the new Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD or CS3D). Once adopted, the CSDDD will create new and far-reaching mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence obligations for EU and non-EU companies operating in the EU.
Are You Ready for the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Regime?
Edward Turtle and Corinne Robinson
The UK has introduced a new cybersecurity regime under delegated legislation which will apply to consumer connectable products from April 2024. The regime has a very broad scope (applying to most connected products) and a short lead time (less than six months from now), and there has been minimal publicity about the impact of the changes
Provisional Agreement Reached on Groundbreaking New Products Law: EU Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation
Provisional agreement on the text of the new Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation was reached by the European Union institutions on 4 December 2023. The ESPR will introduce a new, broad ecodesign framework that will empower the European Commission to adopt far-reaching sustainability requirements for product groups. It also will create new transparency requirements for products in the form of an EU ‘digital product passport’ and will ban the destruction of unsold clothing and footwear.
The Jury Has Spoken: Two Executives Convicted in Groundbreaking Consumer Product Safety Prosecution
Rod Freeman , Daniel Grooms , Matt Howsare and Shawn Skolky
In November 2023, a jury convicted two corporate executives of conspiracy and failure to report information about defective residential dehumidifiers as required by the Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA). The jury verdict is groundbreaking because it is the first ever criminal conviction of corporate executives for failure to report under the CPSA. The judge’s decision on sentencing for the two defendants likely will put an end to the yearslong series of civil and criminal enforcement actions involving multiple Gree companies relating to the recalled dehumidifiers. The numerous actions over prior years were related to the companies’ recalls of multiple dehumidifiers linked to over 450 reported fires and millions of dollars in property damage.
Provisional Agreement Reached on Proposed EU Cyber Resilience Act
Emma Bichet and Tracey Bischofberger
Provisional agreement on the text of the proposed new European Union Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) was reached by the EU institutions on 30 November 2023. The first regulation of its kind, the CRA seeks to impose new cybersecurity requirements, as well as requirements for conformity assessment and CE marking to demonstrate compliance with the new requirements, together with recall and reporting obligations, on ‘products with digital elements’. This is a broad concept that covers connected products, software and certain types of data processing.