Product risk and liability

Briefings in English - 2008

China’s contaminated milk scandal will have far-reaching implications for companies involved in food production in that country. (October 2008)

In the first 10 months of 2007, the European Commission received 56 per cent more consumer safety alerts from EU member states than in the same period in 2006. What is driving this high level of activity in the EU? This report answers this and other questions on the basis of a major international study into industry attitudes to product safety and recall in the EU. (March 2008)

A rapidly evolving landscape. (February 2008)

An update to the June 2007 guide, Class actions and third party funding of litigation.

The increasing regulation of the food industry in Europe is an inevitable consequence of the EU’s policy of strengthening consumer confidence in food safety and harmonising laws and regulations to ensure the free movement of food and feed. (February 2008)

Briefings in English - 2007

Paul Joseph, an intellectual property lawyer in the Consumer Products and Retail Sector Group of international law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer provides a legal perspective on what the franchising model entails, the benefits it can offer to forward-thinking businesses and how to manage the potential risks. This article is based on one first published in BRC now The Retailer. (August 2007)

This is an article written for The Grocer by Tom Snelling. He is a lawyer in Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer’s consumer products and retail group. (August 2007)

This article is based on one first published in The International Comparative Legal Guide to Product Liability 2007. (August 2007)

After years of intense political wrangling, the European Council adopted the final text of the EU’s new chemical safety regime, REACH, on 18 December 2006 (Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006). Its adoption followed months of negotiation between the Council, the European Parliament and interest groups, resulting in a last minute deal that, though representing a step back from the more stringent measures at one point proposed by the European Parliament, will still present significant challenges for the chemicals industry and downstream users of chemicals, not least of which will be the cost implications of achieving compliance. Proponents of REACH assert that REACH will both reduce the environmental and health impacts of hazardous chemicals and increase consumer confidence in their safety. The ramifications of REACH, setting as it does a new global benchmark for chemicals legislation and best practice, are also likely to be felt worldwide. We have prepared this guide to help you understand the key provisions of the new REACH regime and its likely implications for industry. (April 2007)

An overview of collective actions and D&O liabilities in England, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain. (March 2007)

Briefings in English - 2006

The following material, written by Ulrike Rein and Dávid Kőhegyi, provides a broad overview of recent issues in product liability law in Hungary. This article appeared in the 2006 edition of The International Comparative Legal Guide to: Product Liability; published and reproduced with kind permission by Global Legal Group Ltd, London (www.iclg.co.uk) (September 2006)

This briefing discusses the different approaches of the US and European governments towards the obesity 'epidemic'. (February 2006)

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