ICPHSO 2026

What an absolute privilege and honour it was to speak at the ICPHSO (Intl Consumer Product Health & Safety Organization) in Brussels yesterday!

In our rapid session, “𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘈𝘳𝘦 𝘚𝘢𝘧𝘦 … 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘈𝘳𝘦 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘐𝘵?”, Martijn Duinkerke of the Nederlandse Voedsel en Warenautoriteit – NVWA explained, from an enforcement perspective, the importance to have robust processes in place to ensure, and demonstrate, product safety.

The NVWA presented its self-inspection tool for businesses: a practical way to assess whether your organisation is GPSR compliant.
👉 Check it out here: https://lnkd.in/eUxutdU7

In order to show the challenges the industry is also facing, I added another perspective: failure to have those processes in place, increases the risk of 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 under the new Product Liability Directive. This Directive applies to all consumer products placed on the market or put into service as from 9 December 2026.

And there is a bigger picture: The GPSR, the new PLD and the EU Collective Redress Directive are reshaping the European product risk landscape. Greater transparency, disclosure obligations and new evidentiary presumptions mean that product safety issues are increasingly likely to be scrutinised for their litigation potential by claimant lawyers and third-party litigation funders.

So the question for businesses is no longer simply: “Are my products safe?”
It is increasingly also: “Is my organisation litigation-ready when product safety is challenged?”

Product safety and product liability are becoming two sides of the same coin.

👉 This means that compliance, legal and risk&insurance need to start collaborating more closely, well in advance of a claim.

If you need assistance on this, Claims Made Advocatuur is happy to be of help.

Last but not least, a huge thanks to Marc J. Schoem, Chris Harvey, Rod Freeman and everyone else involved, for the excellent organisation and warm hospitality. Already looking forward to ICPHSO 2027 in Barcelona!