When Looking Ahead at 2013, Don’t Forget to Remember Recalls of the Past
12-20-2012
Before looking ahead, it’s important to consider what can be learned from the past. And in the case of recall management, there’s a lot we can learn.
According to the ExpertRECALL Index, a quarterly report we publish on recall trends, recalls in the food and beverage, medical device and pharmaceutical industries saw significant increases last quarter. As efforts to implement the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) continue to stall and calls by consumer safety advocates continue to fall on deaf ears, food and beverage recalls increased. Meanwhile, pharmaceutical and medical device recalls hit the highest levels in more than nine quarters.
And while consumer product recalls have steadily declined, the second recall of a baby seat in the history of the consumer-favorite infant product revealed challenges the industry may be facing in identifying an appropriate remedy.
Effective recall management is critical to preserving a brand’s reputation, and that starts with recall planning. You should be reviewing your recall plan, putting aside time for that mock recall on your calendar, and updating your quality controls now before you get caught flat-footed.
But product safety is about more than effective recall management.
That’s why we talked to legal and regulatory experts with experience in FDA and CPSC related matters to get their opinions on what they saw as the most critical events of 2012 and what they say companies should expect in 2013.
Here’s a preview of what the experts had to say:
“FDA law has often been driven by seminal safety events, and the compounding crisis of 2012 is shaping up to be just such an event. At least two bills have already been proposed by Congress to strengthen federal control over pharmacy compounding.”
- David M. Fox, Partner, Hogan Lovells US LLP
“FSMA represents a sea of change in the legislative approach to regulating food safety by making prevention, rather than detection and response, a key goal. Industry will be required to verify the safe production of food, both domestic and imported, utilizing comprehensive, science-based standards.”
- Leslie T. Krasny, Partner, Keller and Heckman LLP
“The debate over regulation of mobile medical applications (MMA), though not an ‘event’ per se, is important to product safety due to the massive amount of MMAs available today and coming to market. Growth of the MMA industry has been staggering in recent years, largely outpacing government regulators.”
- Stephen D. Terman, Principal Attorney, OFW Law
“Soon product safety issues will be more than just domestic matters. As the CPSC strengthens its relationships with regulatory agencies in the European Union, Australia, and China, we can expect recalls to become global issues. That means that recall news may make international headlines, and brand damage could become irreversible.”
- David Schmeltzer, Esq., Consultant, Stericycle ExpertRECALL
We’ve captured their full thoughts in a 2012 year-end report which is available to download here. We encourage you to take a look and share with us your thoughts below.
Stericycle ExpertRECALL™ is the industry leader in recall logistics and regulatory compliance for consumer product, pharmaceutical, medical device, juvenile product, and food and beverage recalls. ExpertRECALL’s professionals are experts in recall management who can help you streamline the entire product recall process.
