How will Brexit impact Recalls?

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For companies who are all too familiar with recalls, this is a million-dollar question...

Now that Article 50 has been triggered, companies need to know how recall regulations and laws will be effected. Until now in the European single market, companies had the luxury of abiding by EU legal parameters, which is by no means a simple procedure, however it is an established one.

Companies invest millions of dollars quarterly to ensure that their products meet safety standards set by the EU. This leaves companies inside and outside the UK wondering what new regulations will be drawn up and in turn implemented.

How companies inside the UK will be affected: The scenarios

  • Specific UK regulations are developed. These will be time consuming and will add another layer of costs to companies’ production budgets.

  • UK could opt to join RASFF and RAPEX – (The Rapid Alert Systems for Food and Feed and Rapid Alert System for dangerous non-food products). Up until the UK leaves officially, these systems provide up-to-date and instant alerts the moment a threatening product is identified in the market. To opt out poses a lot of questions as to why not join?

From a business point of view, this creates a headache for any company selling in or out of the UK. These headaches normally lead to expensive legal advice and additional costly quality control procedures.

To ease some of this unknown quandary, companies can use this time of uncertainty to take a look at their current recall policies and procedures. Look at how they can be streamlined and managed to the point of minimal manpower, minimal costs and maximum coverage to connect with consumers – who are the real main point of concern in any recall.

“When your hand is forced to take a look at current recall procedures, you’re more likely to notice great big gaps that were ignored before... this is the moment when managers can perform an internal audit or checklist to update and modify current recall polices and systems to help take the sting out of whatever regulations are announced in the coming months.” 
- Peter Gillett, Managing Director of Marketpoint Recall.

There's always time for START - Strategic Action Recall Team