Division 2.1 Obligation to inform competent authorities in the Member States

Under the GPSD, producers and distributors must inform the competent authorities if they know or ought to know, on the basis of the information in their possession and as professionals, that a product they have placed on the market is dangerous (according to the definitions and criteria of the Directive).

‘Isolated’ circumstances or products are excluded from the obligation to notify.

Producers and distributors could give the authorities preliminary information about a potential product risk as soon as they are aware of it. With this information the authorities may be able to help producers and distributors to carry out their notification duty correctly. In addition, they are encouraged to contact their national authorities if they have a doubt as to whether a product risk exists.