Product liability
The specialists of Van Traa remove burdens in all fields of product safety and product liability. They advise producers and their insurers, but certainly also importers, traders and other chain parties in this field. In the event of incidents they are a spider in the web and provide the necessary guidance, overview and speed.
If necessary, our specialists can be reached 24/7 (emergency: 00 31 6 20 21 05 66) and will answer all your questions and interact with all supervisors (NVWA, SKAL, ILT, Customs Authorities), but also with all your trading partners, insurers/insured parties and, if necessary, also with the press.
Product and food safety
Every business in the chain of the food and goods industry must see to the safety of the (food) product. The exact rules from the European and national food and goods regulations are a jungle, however. The Food Safety Regulations and the Directive on General Product Safety are often still known but the dozens of specific implementation ordinances and guidelines are interwoven in complicated ways and almost inscrutable.
Failure to meet the statutory safety requirements will end in complaints from consumers, reporting duties to authorities and insurers, claims or even recalls -naturally with major consequences for the conduct of business, trading relations and reputation.
Product liability
Product liability issues produce interesting questions such as:
- Who is to be regarded as the producer?
- What exactly is "state-of-the-art"?
- Could a limitation period play a part?
- Who is responsible and liable?
- Can I recover damages from the supplier?
- What part do CE markings play?
In addition to all this we are living in a globalized world and issues of this kind often have international aspects. The focus can therefore not only be directed at the Netherlands and Dutch law but the legal systems of other countries must also be included in assessments and strategic choices.
Incident Management & Recalls
These matters are complicated both legally and factually. Fast decisions are usually required. Certainly when a (silent) recall action/product recall is added, matters can also become quite hectic.
- Must my product be recalled?
- What does the press release look like?
- To which supervisor must I report the matter? Should I report it at all?
- Whom can I hold liable for my damage?
- Does my insurance cover the damage?
In short: Van Traa's lawyers are players of simultaneous legal chess and they partly derive their joy from that.
