We got a safety complaint and cannot tell if it is serious

The General Product Safety Regulation (EU) 2023/988 does not let a company decide that a complaint is not worth looking at. Manufacturers must investigate complaints, and information received on accidents, that concern the safety of products they made available and that the complainant alleges to be dangerous, and keep an internal register of those complaints together with recalls and corrective measures (Article 9(12)). Importers investigate and file in the same way (Article 11(10)). The register holds only the personal data the investigation needs, for no longer than five years after the data were entered (Articles 9(13) and 11(11)).^[1]

Whether a complaint is serious is answered by the regulation's own yardstick. A dangerous product is any product that is not a safe product (Article 3(3)), and Article 6(1) lists, among others, the aspects an assessment takes into account: the product's characteristics, its effect on and from other products, its presentation, labelling and warnings, the categories of consumers using it, and an appearance that invites a use it was not designed for. A serious risk is one that requires rapid intervention by the authorities (Article 3(5)).^[1]

The decision has consequences in both directions. A manufacturer who, on the information in its possession, has reason to believe a product it placed on the market is dangerous must immediately take corrective measures, inform consumers and notify the market surveillance authorities of the Member States where the product was made available through the Safety Business Gateway (Article 9(8)); the importer has the same duty and informs the manufacturer first (Article 11(8)). Whatever you decide, the authority may later ask for a full description of the risk, related complaints and known accidents (Article 15(2)).^[1]

The Commission's guidance for businesses says the same in plain words: address consumer complaints, investigate them thoroughly, and if a product turns out to be dangerous, act before it causes harm.^[3]

Market surveillance follows Regulation (EU) 2019/1020. Where an operator fails to take corrective action, the authority ensures that the product is withdrawn or recalled, or that its being made available is prohibited or restricted (Article 16(5)).^[2]