The Legal Framework of Product Safety
The safety of consumer products in Georgia is regulated by a dedicated instrument — the Product Safety and Free Circulation Code. This act creates the system of obligations that binds manufacturers and distributors with respect to products placed on the market: placing only safe products, warning consumers about risks, supplying information, and compensating harm caused by a defective product. The sixth, ninth, eleventh and twelfth articles of the Code rest precisely on these four pillars.
For consumers and businesses alike this framework has practical significance: it determines who answers for harm, what information must be given to the consumer, and how the manufacturer must act when a risk emerges in a product after it has been placed on the market.
Manufacturer's Liability for a Defective Product
Under the sixth article of the Code, the manufacturer is liable for harm caused by a defective product placed on the market by it. It also matters that where the manufacturer cannot be traced — even if its name is indicated on the product — the person who actually placed the product on the market is regarded as the manufacturer, unless it notifies the injured person, within a reasonable period, of the whereabouts of the manufacturer or of the person who supplied it with the product.
The burden of proving the harm lies on the injured person, who must prove both the defect of the product and the causal link between the defective product and the harm suffered. Where two or more persons are liable for the same harm, they are jointly and severally liable. The manufacturer is also liable where the harm is caused simultaneously by the defective product and by an act of a third party, while its liability may be reduced or excluded if the harm results both from the defect and from the improper conduct of the injured person or a person for whom the injured person is responsible.
The Duty to Place Only Safe Products
The ninth article lays down the general rule: the manufacturer must place only safe products on the market. It must also, within the limits of its competence, warn consumers of visible or invisible risks contained in the product during its intended use and over its predetermined period; where avoiding such a risk is impossible, all measures must be taken to avert it. The distributor, within the scope of its activities, facilitates the safety of products placed on the market.
At the same time, a defective product may be placed on the market only where the supplier has clearly informed the consumer that it is defective. A product supplied as an antique, or a product that must be repaired or altered before use, is not treated for the purposes of this chapter as a product for re-use, provided the consumer has been clearly informed thereof.