French Consumer Law is a comprehensive and comparative overview of French and EU law in this field, covering: advertising, unfair commercial practices, conditions for the validity of contracts, unfair terms, product conformity, latent defects, product safety.

French Consumer Law

Pursuant to Article L. 421-4 (former Article L. 221-1) of the Consumer Code, producers and distributors must ensure to take all the necessary measures to meet all the safety obligations. Ordinances No 2004-670 and No 2008-810 supplemented the provisions of Article L. 421-3 (former Article L. 221-1, paragraph  1), Articles L. 423-1 to L. 423-4 (former Articles L. 221-1-2 to L. 221-1-4) imposing on  …

Content

Pursuant to Article L. 421-4 (former Article L. 221-1) of the Consumer Code, producers and distributors must ensure to take all the necessary measures to meet all the safety obligations. Ordinances No 2004-670 and No 2008-810 supplemented the provisions of Article L. 421-3 (former Article L. 221-1, paragraph  1), Articles L. 423-1 to L. 423-4 (former Articles L. 221-1-2 to L. 221-1-4) imposing on producers and distributors various obligations or prohibitions as a preventive measure:

-  Duty to provide information: Article L. 423-1 (former Article L. 221-1-2, I)  obliges the producer to provide consumers with all the relevant information enabling them to assess the risks of the product during its normal or foreseeable period of use and to take precautions if the risks are not immediately perceptible.

-  Monitoring obligation: pursuant to Article L. 423-2 (former Article L. 221-1-2, II), the producer is required to inquire about the risks that the product he markets may present and, if there are any, to take the necessary actions to control them. According to Article L. 423-2, for the producer, compliance with the monitoring obligation may range from the adequate and efficient warning of customers to the withdrawal of products from the market, or the recall of products put on the market. In accordance with Article L. 423-4 (former Article L. 221-1-4), the distributor must also participate in monitoring the safety of products placed on the market by (i) transmitting information concerning the risks related to these products, (ii) providing the necessary documents for their traceability, and (iii) collaborating in the actions taken by producers and the competent administrative authorities to avoid risks .

-  Ban on supplying products: Article L. 423-4 (former Article L. 221-1-4) obliges the distributor to refrain from supplying products which he knows do not meet the safety requirements .

-  Duty to alert or report: according to Article L. 423-3 (former Article L. 221-1-3), the producer or distributor, when he knows that the product he has put on the market does not meet the requirements of Article L. 421-3, must immediately notify the competent authorities, indicating the risk prevention measures he is undertaking. The producer and the distributor cannot escape their obligation to alert by alleging that they were unaware of “risks that they could not reasonably be unaware of”.

Following the adoption of Law No 2018-938 of 30 October 2018  and the PACTE Law of 22 May 2019 , amended Article L. 423-1-3 now provides that, in the event of the implementation of withdrawal or recall measures, professionals must establish and maintain an updated quantified record of withdrawn or recalled products, which they must keep available for authorized agents. The professionals who undertake the recall campaign make the declaration electronically on a dedicated website, made available to the public by the Administration. In the food and animal feed sectors, the law provides for similar obligations (statement of figures and dematerialized declaration on a dedicated website), specifically targeting producers and distributors in the event of withdrawal or recall measures .

 For a case law application prior to the distributor's legal monitoring obligation resulting from Ordinance No 2008-810, see Cass. 2e civ., 4 November 2004, LawLex200600001455JBJ, considering that the successive professional suppliers of a chemical component subject to new regulations requiring them to provide updated data sheets and by modifying the mandatory labeling, had committed faults by failing to provide the information necessary for the compliant packaging of the disputed paints.

CA Toulouse, 20 January 2020, LawLex202000000110JBJ: even if it is not established that the undertaking in question did not pursue the information and withdrawal campaign for defective siphons of the brand concerned, it failed to comply with the obligation set out in Article L. 423-4 of the Consumer Code, which prohibits it from marketing products that it knows do not meet safety requirements, by failing to set up an effective warning system for its customers, who are holders of a loyalty card or have paid by credit card, who purchase such a siphon. 

For balanced commercial relations in the agricultural and food sector and healthy, sustainable food accessible to all, OJ 253 of 1 November 2018.

Law No 2019-486 of 22 May 2019 on the growth and transformation of undertakings, OJ 119 of 23 May 2019.

Art. L.423-3, last sentence: "An order of the ministers concerned, issued after consultation with the CNIL, shall determine the operating conditions of the site, its address, the information to be disclosed, the nature of the information made public, and the procedures for disclosure, publication and updating of such information".

French Consumer Law

651. Content

Demandez un accès gratuit
au contenu exclusif Livv – juristes d’entreprise

Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

651. Content

Demandez un accès gratuit au contenu exclusif Livv – juristes d’entreprise

Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

Demandez un accès gratuit
au contenu exclusif Livv – juristes d’entreprise