A trading name of A Star Supply · ContactA trading name of A Star Supply · ContactIf a product you sell to EU or Northern Ireland buyers seriously injures someone, the General Product Safety Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2023/988) says who has to tell the authorities, how, and how fast. Here is what the text says, along with the recall rules and the separate position in Great Britain. This is a plain-English summary, not legal advice.
Article 20(1) covers an accident caused by a product placed or made available on the market. Article 20(2) says which occurrences count: those associated with the use of a product that resulted in a person's death or in serious adverse effects on their health and safety, permanent or temporary, including injuries, other damage to the body, illnesses and chronic health effects.
So the test is the outcome for the person, not the kind of product. A minor complaint with no serious effect on anyone's health is not an Article 20 accident, though it still belongs in your complaints handling (Article 9(12)).
Instilus is not a Responsible Person and does not notify accidents for anyone. The duty stays with the manufacturer and the operators named above.
Article 20(1) requires notification "without undue delay from the moment it knows about the accident", to the competent authorities of the Member State where the accident happened. The regulation does not set a fixed number of hours or days.
The European Commission's 2025 guidelines for businesses put it as notifying "as soon as possible" via the Safety Business Gateway.
Notifications go through the Safety Business Gateway, the web portal the Commission runs for businesses to inform authorities and consumers about dangerous products and accidents (Articles 20(1) and 27). The Commission's guidelines say you need an EU Login account to submit a notification, that you enter information identifying the product, the risk or accident, and the supply chain, and that what you enter is immediately made available to all relevant market surveillance authorities.
The notification must include the type and identification number of the product and the circumstances of the accident, if known. The manufacturer must give the authorities any other relevant information they ask for (Article 20(1)). The guidelines give examples of circumstances: the age of the injured person where relevant, and how the product was being used.
Recital 43 says accident notification should not be considered an admission of liability for a defective product.
The type or identification number is the same identifier Article 9(5) requires on the product. If you cannot say which product or batch was involved, the notification is harder to make.
Separately from accidents, Article 9(8) says that where a manufacturer considers or has reason to believe a product it placed on the market is dangerous, it must immediately take corrective measures (including a withdrawal or recall, as appropriate), inform consumers under Article 35 or 36, and inform the market surveillance authorities of the countries where the product was sold through the Safety Business Gateway.
Importers (Article 11(8)) and distributors (Article 12(4)) have matching duties to act and to make sure the authorities are informed. Manufacturers must also give consumers a public way to report accidents and safety issues, such as a phone number, electronic address or website section (Article 9(11)), and keep an internal register of complaints, recalls and corrective measures (Article 9(12)).
Great Britain is still covered by the General Product Safety Regulations 2005. OPSS guidance says regulation 9 requires producers and distributors who know that a product they have placed on the market or supplied does not meet the general safety requirement to notify an enforcement authority of that and of the action taken to prevent risk to consumers. OPSS's 2005 regulations guidance says this is done in writing and that in Great Britain the authority will normally be the local trading standards authority.
The GB duty in the OPSS guidance is triggered by knowing a product is unsafe, not by a separate rule for reporting each accident. OPSS's notification guidance says that where a business supplying the UK market cannot identify a local authority, for example because it has no UK-based legal entity, it should notify OPSS, and that where a notification includes a recall or the product presents a serious or high risk, an entry is made on the UK Product Recalls and Alerts website. It points to PAS 7100:2022 for running recalls.
For Northern Ireland, the same OPSS guidance says an unsafe product sold there should be notified to the relevant UK authority, and notes that the EU Safety Business Gateway is how businesses report dangerous products and accidents to EU Member State authorities.
Occurrences associated with the use of a product that resulted in a person's death or in serious adverse effects on their health and safety, permanent or temporary, including injuries, other damage to the body, illnesses and chronic health effects (Article 20(2)).
Article 20(1) says "without undue delay from the moment it knows about the accident". The regulation sets no fixed number of hours or days; the Commission's guidelines say "as soon as possible".
A distributor or importer who knows about an accident must inform the manufacturer without undue delay. The manufacturer notifies, or instructs the importer or a distributor to do so (Article 20(3)).
Through the EU Safety Business Gateway, to the authorities of the country where the accident happened. The Commission says you need an EU Login account. Include the product's type and identification number and the circumstances, if known.
Recital 43 of the regulation says accident notification should not be considered an admission of liability for a defective product.
No. Great Britain is covered by the General Product Safety Regulations 2005. OPSS guidance says producers and distributors who know a product is unsafe must notify an enforcement authority in writing, normally local trading standards.
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