Member

The European Union’s new product liability directive, which came into force on 8 December 2024, is intended, from the EU’s point of view, to update product liability in relation to online marketplaces. The European Commission describes the effect of the product liability directive now to be that online marketplaces can be held liable when they act as one of the economic operators —a manufacturer, an importer, an authorised representative, a fulfilment service provider or a distributor. This Bill does not create a similar parallel set of obligations in relation to online marketplaces and it does not hold online marketplaces liable for harmful or defective products that they supply in the same way that the European Union’s product liability directive does.