Recall campaigns during the Covid-19 pandemic
With the increasing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Brazilian territory and the new measures that are being adopted by the Executive in the federal, state and municipal spheres on a daily basis, Brazil is being surrounded by uncertainties.
One topic that deserves special attention is recall campaigns. The current scenario – in which the medical community strongly recommends people to stay at home – contrasts with the recall dynamic, that encourages people to return defective products to the supplier.
Bearing in mind such controversy, the Consumer Protection and Defense Authority (“DPDC”) released a statement concerning recall campaigns during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The first important aspect of such statement consists in the need of keeping the report of recall campaigns to the authority in accordance with the provisions of Ordinance No. 618/2019 from the Ministry of Justice and Public Security.
The second important aspect involves the recall plan. Suppliers initiating new recall campaigns in this sensitive moment shall exceptionally divide them in two different phases, so that the consumers are not stimulated to leave their homes during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the first phase, the supplier shall communicate the health/safety hazard of the product or service to the consumer and guide them on the measures they should adopt, such as to stop using the product or service. In the second phase, consumers shall receive instructions on the measures to effectively cease the hazard.
With regard to the ongoing recall campaigns, DPDC instructs suppliers to evaluate the need of making readjustments in order to align with the orientations of the medical community.
Despite the fact that the statement leaves many questions without answers, the authority recognizes that the attendance of a recall campaign shall not pose risks to the consumers’ health. The impact to the attendance of recall campaigns is expected and totally justified. On the other hand, the authority will not tolerate miscommunication concerning recall campaigns in light of the determinations of Ordinance No. 618/2019.