--- title: "A product needs to be recalled" description: "When a product you have placed on the market is dangerous, the General Product Safety Regulation requires you to act immediately: take corrective measures, inform the market surveillance authorities through the Safety Business Gateway, inform consumers directly where you can identify them, and publish a recall notice that follows the EU template. Consumers must be offered a choice between at least two remedies out of repair, replacement and refund." type: "problem" url: "https://www.conphora.com/solutions/problem/recall/" markdown: "https://www.conphora.com/solutions/problem/recall.md" locale: "en" language: "en" updated: "2026-10-04" author: "Conphora compliance team" publisher: "Conphora" source: "https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2023/988/oj" tags: ["GPSR", "incidents-recalls"] license: "Free to quote with attribution and a link to the page" --- # A product needs to be recalled When a product you have placed on the market is dangerous, the General Product Safety Regulation requires you to act immediately: take corrective measures, inform the market surveillance authorities through the Safety Business Gateway, inform consumers directly where you can identify them, and publish a recall notice that follows the EU template. Consumers must be offered a choice between at least two remedies out of repair, replacement and refund. ## Why this happens The General Product Safety Regulation (EU) 2023/988 puts the duty to act on the company, not on the authority. A manufacturer who considers, or has reason to believe, that a product it has placed on the market is dangerous must immediately take the corrective measures needed, including a withdrawal or a recall, inform consumers, and inform the market surveillance authorities through the Safety Business Gateway (Article 9(8)). Importers and distributors have matching duties for the products they handle (Articles 11 and 12). [1] The regulation also decides how consumers are told. Where the affected consumers can be identified, for example from orders, product registrations or loyalty programmes, they must be notified directly and without undue delay (Article 35). The written recall notice follows a fixed structure (Article 36), and the Commission has laid down the template in an implementing regulation. [2] The order matters because every party depends on the one before it. The authority needs the notification to coordinate across Member States through Safety Gate. Retailers and marketplaces need the batch data to stop the sale and to find the buyers. Consumers need one clear message, and a remedy that does not cost them anything (Article 37). [1] ## How to solve it 1. **Stop the sale and assess the risk** Halt deliveries of the affected batches and identify them by type, batch or serial number. Assess what can happen, to whom and how likely it is; that assessment decides whether a withdrawal is enough or a recall is needed. 2. **Inform the authorities through the Safety Business Gateway** The manufacturer informs the market surveillance authorities of the Member States where the product was made available, immediately and through the Safety Business Gateway. 3. **Inform retailers, marketplaces and others in the supply chain** Distributors and marketplaces have to stop the sale and help reach the buyers. They also hold customer data that you do not have. 4. **Notify consumers directly and publish the recall notice** Contact every affected consumer you can identify, and publish a recall notice built on the EU template: the headline 'Product safety recall', a clear description of the product and the hazard, and what the consumer should do. 5. **Offer the remedy** Give the consumer a choice between at least two of repair, replacement and an adequate refund, without cost and without significant inconvenience. 6. **Follow up until the recall is closed** Track how many products come back, repeat the notice where the response is low, and keep the authority informed until the case is closed. ## What you need to show - **The risk assessment** — The manufacturer or importer, based on the complaint, accident or test result (Basis for the corrective measure (GPSR Article 9(8))) - **The notification in the Safety Business Gateway** — The economic operator that takes the corrective measure (GPSR Articles 9(8) and 27) - **The recall notice** — The economic operator, on the template of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/1435 (GPSR Article 36) - **Records of who was notified and what came back** — Your own sales, registration and customer-service data (GPSR Article 35 and the follow-up with the authority) ## If you do nothing - **The authority orders the recall for you** — Where an economic operator does not act, market surveillance authorities can order the withdrawal or recall themselves and alert the public (Regulation (EU) 2019/1020, Article 16). - **A notice that plays the risk down is not allowed** — Terms such as 'voluntary', 'precautionary', 'discretionary' or 'in rare situations' must not be used in a recall notice (GPSR Article 36(2)). - **Penalties under national law** — Each Member State sets its own penalties for infringements of the regulation (GPSR Article 44). ## Questions ### What is the difference between a withdrawal and a recall? A withdrawal stops a product in the supply chain from being made available. A recall brings back a product that has already reached the consumer. ### Do we have to report an accident even when we do not recall? Yes. A manufacturer who learns of an accident caused by a product reports it through the Safety Business Gateway without undue delay (GPSR Article 20). ### We are a distributor. What is our part? A distributor who considers a product dangerous informs the manufacturer or importer, makes sure corrective measures are taken, and informs the authorities (GPSR Article 12). ### May we offer only a voucher? No. The consumer chooses between at least two of repair, replacement and refund, unless the other remedies are impossible or disproportionate (GPSR Article 37). ## Regulations involved GPSR ## Sources 1. [Regulation (EU) 2023/988 on general product safety](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2023/988/oj) — EUR-Lex, 2026-09-21 2. [Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/1435 on the template for a recall notice](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg_impl/2024/1435/oj) — EUR-Lex, 2026-09-21 3. [Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 on market surveillance and compliance of products](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2019/1020/oj) — EUR-Lex, 2026-09-21