Product Liability Directive

The liability of manufacturers for the products they make was won over a 10 year battle. The EU law in 1985 helped settle this important protection and gave consumers 3 years in which to act on harm or loss due to a defective product, even if no fault could be proven on behalf of the producer.

The scope of the legislation did not cover agricultural products, because they were “God’s creation” and no-one can sue God…but BEUC secured an extension to primary agricultural products after the mad cow disease crisis in 1999, so it now covers such products as meat, cereals, fruit and vegetables.