Compliance tools · AI, digital commerce and consumer protection

Product Liability Directive compliance tool

Directive (EU) 2024/2853 · European Union · Binding instrument

Name anyone on your staff. The system makes them your compliance person.

A member of your own staff, with no compliance background, reads the training module, answers the interview, and finishes with your Product Liability Directive documentation cited article by article. The knowledge stays in the business.

Every account level runs inside a dedicated Claude account. Anyone can try a toolkit in their own Claude account; compliance work runs in a dedicated one. The Claude Max plan is £90 a month, paid to Anthropic, and is not included in any level.

See a finished report before you pay

Product Liability Directive is Directive (EU) 2024/2853, a binding instrument in the European Union. Strict liability for defective products, now covering software and AI.

The free assessment screens for Product Liability Directive when a business places products on the market, manufactures goods or imports goods after 9 December 2026.

Screen your business against all 116 agent toolkits, free →

• Your exact position under Product Liability Directive: what is in place, what is missing, and what to do about each gap.
• Documentation with article citations, ready for auditors, insurers, customers and public buyers.
• A trained person inside the business who understands what the regulation requires, and stays.
• A dated record of every section completed, with the reports themselves staying in your own Claude account. The toolkit is carried by an account level, see the plans.
• All of it completed in-house, at your own pace, without booking a single meeting.

Check that Product Liability Directive applies to your business, free →

Does Product Liability Directive apply to my business?

You are caught if you are an economic operator in the product supply chain, meaning a manufacturer, authorised representative, importer, fulfilment service provider, distributor or online platform, as defined in Article 4(10) to (16). The trigger is placing a product on the EU market or putting it into service from 9 December 2026. Software and digital manufacturing files count as products under Article 4(1).

Who does Product Liability Directive apply to?

It applies to economic operators liable for defective products: manufacturers, authorised representatives, importers, fulfilment service providers, distributors and online platforms, under Article 4(10) to (16). It also covers natural persons who suffer damage from a defective product, who hold the compensation entitlement. Providers of related services fall in through Article 4(3).

Does Product Liability Directive apply to a small business?

There is no general size threshold or exemption. The only size relief is Article 12(2), which lets a microenterprise or small enterprise software manufacturer agree contractually that an integrating manufacturer waives its right of recourse against it. Those size definitions follow Commission Recommendation 2003/361/EC.

When does Product Liability Directive apply from, and what are the deadlines?

It applies to products placed on the market or put into service in the Union from 9 December 2026, the date Member States must bring national transposition measures into force under Article 22(1). Directive 85/374/EEC is repealed from that date but still governs earlier products under Article 21. The Commission's first evaluation report is due by 9 December 2030 under Article 20.

What does Product Liability Directive require me to do?

You must not limit or exclude your liability to an injured person by contract or national law, under Article 15. You face no-fault civil liability for damage caused by a defective product, and presumptions of defectiveness and causal link can operate against you under Articles 8, 10 and 15. National courts can order you to disclose evidence under Article 9.

What records or documents does Product Liability Directive require me to keep or produce?

You must produce evidence when a national court orders disclosure under Article 9, and trade secret material disclosed in that process attracts confidentiality measures under Article 9(5). Member States, not you, publish final judgments under Article 19(1). The Directive places no general record-keeping duty on economic operators.

What happens if I do not comply with Product Liability Directive?

There are no fines at EU or national level, because this is a civil liability regime rather than a penalty regime. You face no-fault civil liability for damage caused by defective products, and no contractual or national law provision may limit or exclude that liability in relation to the injured person, under Article 15. Claims run through the ordinary civil courts of each Member State.

How is Product Liability Directive different from GPSR?

The difference that matters most is that non-compliance with the GPSR's mandatory safety requirements triggers a presumption of defectiveness under Article 10(2)(b) of this Directive, and the GPSR's criteria for substantial modification feed the Article 4(18) definition.

How do I start complying with Product Liability Directive?

The first practical step is to work out where you sit in the liability chain: manufacturer to importer, authorised representative and fulfilment service provider, plus distributor fallback liability under Article 8(4), and the Article 8(1) chain that AI providers enter.

Which ComplianceSME account includes the Product Liability Directive toolkit?

The Product Liability Directive agent toolkit is included from the Small level.

Related in AI, digital commerce and consumer protection: EU AI Act · Digital Services Act · Digital Markets Act · GPSR