Fipronil egg scare: implications for corporates

31 October, 2017
On 7 August 2017 the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and Food Standards Scotland (FSS) announced that 21,000 eggs imported into the UK from farms in Belgium and the Netherlands were contaminated with the pesticide Fipronil.  The number of contaminated eggs… Read more

2017 Australian Consumer Law Review

12 July, 2017
Key takeaways that every business should know Consumer Affairs Australia and New Zealand (CAANZ) has undertaken the first review of the ACL since its inception in 2011 and has released its final report. Herbert Smith Freehills have summarised below the key legislative proposals that all businesses should be… Read more

European Commission finds that consumer protection legislation is fit for purpose but needs to be applied consistently across EU member states to maximise its effectiveness

5 July, 2017
The "Fitness Check" The European Commission has conducted a "Fitness Check" of six key consumer protection and advertising protection directives: The Misleading and Comparative Advertising Directive (2006/114/EC) – which prohibits advertising that misleads traders and regulates comparative advertising. The Unfair… Read more

Developments in New York products liability law

26 April, 2017
In this article, we present a summary of significant products liability cases from October 1, 2015, to September 30, 2016. Our article covers a range of developments concerning failure to warn claims, the exercise of personal jurisdiction, federal preemption, expert… Read more

Court of Appeal considers meaning of notification wording

25 January, 2017
The Court of Appeal has upheld a decision of the Commercial Court that found an insurer could not rely on a notification condition precedent to avoid liability under a public and product liability policy.  The judgment in Zurich Insurance PLC… Read more

Recent developments in US product liability

2 June, 2016
There have been a number of significant product liability cases in the US in recent months. Thomas E Riley from our New York office has prepared an article which was first published in the annual survey issue (51-2) of the Tort… Read more

Criminal liability for defective products: a refresher

3 December, 2015
With the coming into force last month of the Consumer Rights Act 2015, there has understandably been a significant focus on the civil remedies available to consumers who purchase defective products (see our recent blog post commenting on the new Act). … Read more

FDA Empowers Plaintiffs’ Bar with Trans-Fat Ban

23 June, 2015
Following almost two years of deliberation, and notwithstanding a nearly 80 percent drop in the consumption of trans fats over the past decade (due in part to industry's movement away from the use of partially hydrogenated oils), the FDA has… Read more

Lawyers, Partially Hydrogenated Oils, and Money

11 June, 2015
Lawyers for class-action plaintiffs in the US often "piggyback" on the work of government regulators and prosecutors -- swooping in to file class actions against the recipients of FDA warning letters or the targets of government enforcement proceedings. In some… Read more

Product Safety and Recall in the U.S. and EU

27 November, 2014
Joe Falcone and Howard Watson have published an article in Product Liability Law & Strategy addressing the varying approaches taken by the EU and the US to ensure the safety of products placed on the market in those jurisdictions, specifically… Read more

Australia: Country of origin claims: ACCC guidelines

25 November, 2014
Businesses that make country of origin claims in marketing their products in Australia should consult the ‘Country of Origin claims and the Australian Consumer Law’ guidelines published by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) in April 2014. ... Read more

Challenges of advertising functional foods in Australia

28 October, 2014
Australia’s health rating system On the 27 June 2014, state and territory governments confirmed that Australia will introduce a voluntary 5 star health rating system on food labels. The system requires manufacturers to display a ranking between 1 and 5… Read more

EPA Targets Nanotechnology: Hi-Ho, Nanosilver, Away?

10 September, 2014
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has taken an aggressive approach to regulation of nanoscale silver under the Federal Fungicide, Insecticide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). In this article attorneys David L. Wallace and Justin A. Schenck summarize historical and recent regulations… Read more

Australia – a new recall protocol for the food industry

7 August, 2014
Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) is an independent statutory body established by the Food Standards Australia New Zealand Act 1991 (Cth). FSANZ develops standards that regulate the food industry in Australia and New Zealand, such as use of ingredients,… Read more