UNDER NEW EU product liability rules, an injured customer will be able to claim the full damage from the fulfilment service provider, meaning the company that stores, packs, addresses or ships the product for the seller. The liability is unlimited, and any contract clause limiting it will be void.

The rules come from EU Directive 2024/2853 and apply to products first placed on the market after 9 December. They are the same in all 27 member states and also apply in Northern Ireland. For UK businesses, makers and sellers based in Great Britain count as being outside the EU, so British brands using EU fulfilment, and the warehouses holding their stock, need to check their arrangements.

Why warehouses are exposed now

Since 1 November 2026, EU customs have charged a €2 handling fee per item type on parcels sent to consumers from outside the EU, on top of the €3 duty. That has made it cheaper for many sellers to import in bulk and hold stock in EU warehouses. Dutch Customs reported that lines in e-commerce declarations in August and September were about 70% lower than a year earlier, while regular import declarations rose by 43%.

“From 9 December, a warehouse can pay for a fire caused by someone else’s product,” said Robert Jeffrey, senior advisor, international structuring at Holdwise, which advises non-EU companies on setting up in the EU. “In 2027, warehouses will ask who the importer is before they accept a pallet. A seller who can answer that question keeps his place in the warehouse.”

Who pays

• Maker in the EU: the maker is liable.
• Maker outside the EU with an EU importer: the importer is liable, together with the maker.
• Maker outside the EU with an EU authorised representative: the representative is liable, together with the maker.
• Maker outside the EU with neither: the EU fulfilment warehouse is liable, together with the maker.
• None of these in the EU: distributors and online marketplaces that present the product like a seller are liable, unless they name a liable EU company within one month.

What else changes

Software and AI systems, including apps, now count as products, and a missing security update counts as a defect. Damage to private data is covered, and the old €500 threshold has been removed, so any level of damage can be claimed. Claims can be made for up to 10 years after a product is first sold, extending to 25 years for injuries that appear late. Courts can also presume a product is defective if a company withholds evidence.

What warehouses should do before 9 December

• Identify clients whose goods come from makers outside the EU.
• Ask each of them for the name and address of their EU importer or authorised representative.
• Add indemnity and insurance clauses to contracts, with the right to accept goods only once the client names an EU importer.
• Record for each batch when goods arrived and when they were first offered for sale, as this determines whether the new rules apply.

What sellers outside the EU should do

• Appoint an EU importer or authorised representative for every product, with a written mandate.
• Put that company’s name and address on the product or packaging, as EU product safety rules already require.
• Check that product liability insurance covers claims in the EU.
• Plan security updates for every connected product.

Holdwise has published a free product liability check, which uses eight questions to show who an injured person can claim from for a given product.

For more information, visit www.holdwise.nl/en/product-liability-check