Product liability in China imports: you are liable like the manufacturer — here is how to protect yourself
The manufacturer sits in Shenzhen, the injured party sues in Stuttgart — and the law points at you: whoever imports goods from a third country into the EU counts as the manufacturer under product liability law. No reason to panic, but every reason for clean documentation.
6 min read · For importers and private labels
The legal situation: three liability levels
First, strict product liability (German ProdHaftG, soon tightened by the new EU Product Liability Directive): for personal injury and property damage from defective products, the EU importer is liable like a manufacturer — without any fault having to be proven. Second, producer liability under civil law (duties of care). Third, public law: the duties from GPSR and CE law, whose violation triggers fines and recalls.
Important for private labels: whoever puts their logo on the product is also formally the manufacturer — with all duties including technical documentation. The difference between “distributor” and “quasi-manufacturer” decides the burden of proof and recourse options in a damage case.
The protection: documents beat promises
Your line of defence in an emergency is the technical documentation: risk analysis, test reports from accredited labs, declaration of conformity, batch traceability and documented quality control per delivery. Whoever can prove testing to the state of the art reduces both liability risk and insurance premiums.
Second pillar: recourse against the manufacturer. It only works with the right contracts — a quality agreement with defined specifications, liability clauses, ideally the manufacturer’s product liability insurance with EU coverage (“vendor insurance”). With reputable Chinese manufacturers this is negotiable; we build it into the supply contracts.
Insurance: what it costs and what it must cover
Product liability insurance is not optional for importers but basic equipment. For trading goods, premiums typically run at 0.1–0.5 % of revenue — depending on product risk (electronics and children’s products cost more), coverage sum (recommended: at least €3–5 million) and your demonstrable quality assurance.
Watch three points in the contract: recall cost coverage (the most expensive case is often not the damage but the recall), check the USA/Canada exclusion if you sell there, and the policyholder duties — many policies require documented incoming or pre-shipment inspections. Our inspection reports fulfil exactly that duty.
Common questions about product liability
Can I contractually shift liability to the Chinese manufacturer?
Towards the injured party: no — the EU importer’s liability is mandatory law, no contract in the world changes that. Internally: yes, via recourse clauses and quality agreements. Their value, however, hangs on enforceability in China — which is why they belong in Chinese-language contracts under Chinese law, not in German T&C annexes.
What does the GPSR additionally require from me?
The General Product Safety Regulation has required since late 2024, among other things: a responsible person established in the EU named on the product (for direct imports that is you), traceability (batch/type marking), internal risk analysis even for non-CE products and a working recall process. Details in our GPSR article — the duties are manageable, but they must be in place before the first sale.
How realistic is a damage case anyway?
Rarer than the fear, more common than the hope: the typical cases are not million-euro lawsuits but recalls after substance findings by market surveillance and warning letters over missing markings. Both cost four to five figures and are almost always traceable to missing tests or documents — exactly what structured sourcing takes care of from the start.
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Import liability-proof?
We deliver test reports, conformity documents and traceability structured with every shipment — your file is always court-proof. Just send an inquiry.