Product recall

Recalls are active measures by companies ( manufacturers and dealers ) for the prevention of injuries or property damage caused by defective products. The legal basis for callbacks are regulated in Germany by the Product Safety Act ( ProdSG ). There are also regulations of the European Union, which the Federal Republic of Germany must fulfill.

Motivation and implementation

Products are usually then called back when caused by deficiencies or malfunction of the product over a normal levels significantly increased risk estimated by the manufacturer that the consumer / user or things in the environment can be damaged. In the risk assessment, the comparison of expected recall costs with possible damages flows. Some companies prefer to settle the one or other damage than to suffer bundes-/europa-/weltweit irreparable damage to their image. Also, there is liability insurance for such cases (document? ).

In order to narrow down faulty components whose traceability is an important requirement in production. For this purpose, the documentation within the production flow from the manufacturer as well as the identification and simple components with a date code or batch numbering has been removed. Particularly in the case of consumer goods and non-technical consumer goods, it is after the sale by the trade generally no longer comprehensible, whereas the product was sold.

To recall of faulty / unsafe products display actions are common in mass media (especially in newspapers ). Which is usually done in the exchange trading, sometimes also offered the (partly free ) sending the defective goods. Publications in the media usually achieve less than 20% of affected customers. Also, some Internet portals publish product recalls.

It happens that the efforts of the producers are running at the retrieval of defective products. So there are sellers who report back recalled products in their stock, opposite the manufacturers declare their destruction and receive a credit. Subsequently, these products appear in Internet auctions and are sold there. Such unfair methods can, for example, Report on eBay.

Examples of recall

Food industry

In the food industry, product recalls are also a measure to ensure food safety. Under EU law, the obligation is established to ensure the entire production and supply chain and thus to be able to fully trace back. Again, a problem arises when the product leaves the retail sector. Recalls of infant formula and products with salmonella found public attention. Technical problems in production are often the reason for a recall (examples: glass splinters in carrot salad, abraded metal in marshmallows and sodium hydroxide ). Since October 2011, the Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL) operates together with the provinces www.lebensmittelwarnung.de the portal.

Automotive industry

Recalls of automobiles follow the rules of the Equipment and Product Safety Act. A callback is compulsory therefore, if a lack of posing a sudden, unforeseeable, unavoidable and immediate serious danger. A recall usually affects safety-relevant components such as steering, brakes, suspension, engine, air bags or seat belts.

In order to alert the car owner the support of the Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA ) is usually necessary, since this authority the name and address of the current holder are known. The KBA annually publishes statistics for the Total number of callbacks. 2010 was a record year with 185 recalls. For comparison: in 2000 called the manufacturer only 72 times back vehicles. The statistics of the KBA is usually not broken down car brands. In a small request in the Bundestag, the KBA in 2009 responded with a detailed overview of callbacks.

Some vehicle manufacturers remedy defects without charge, under the inspections of vehicles in authorized workshops. This is also called "silent " recall.

A recall may be, as the example of Toyota shows erode the confidence of consumers in the manufacturer and its vehicles and lead to lower sales. Volkswagen AG uses the euphemistic term product optimization for their recalls.

General Motors has in the first quarter of 2014 about 2.6 million Fahrzueuge due to defective ignition locks ( can jump while driving in the " off" position ) and recalled 2.2 million vehicles for other reasons. The U.S. federal agency for road safety NHTSA should have remained idle.

Information and communication technology

Dell and Apple have recalled defective lithium -ion batteries by Sony in August 2006. In 2007, there were several recalls of batteries. This affects, in addition to Toshiba also the mobile phone maker Nokia. By the latter 46 million batteries were recalled BL- 5C, which had been produced by a Japanese company between November 2005 and December 2006.

Toys

In 2007, several recalls of children's toys, which excited immense sensation revealed. Well-known toy manufacturers or importers and traders such as Mattel and Toys R Us had to struggle due to lack of quality assurance measures so that produced in the People's Republic of China products did not meet European or federal German standards. So it came to selling items that had a high lead content in the paint, what ( is where assumed that the objects contact with the mouth have ) just in infants can lead to serious health problems (lead poisoning). China came as a low-wage country in the criticism, but also in Germany a debate was rekindled that not enough quality checks would be made. Also, the plasticizer and the Verschluckbarkeit of small parts are and were a problem in the industry.