Recall and withdrawal: the difference, and where the notices are published
Two words appear constantly in official notices and are often treated as the same thing: withdrawal and recall. Regulation (EU) 2023/988 on general product safety distinguishes them in Article 3. Below we explain what the difference is and where the notices are published.
The difference
Withdrawal refers to a measure preventing a product in the supply chain from being made available on the market any further. The product is taken off the shelf and out of the warehouse before it reaches the consumer.
Recall refers to a measure aimed at achieving the return of a product that has already been made available to the consumer. A recall is therefore addressed to people who already have the product at home.
One practical point follows from this: a withdrawal is not always made public, whereas a recall is, because it has to reach the buyers.
What a notice contains
The notices follow a fixed structure. They usually state:
- product name, brand and model
- lot or batch number, article number or barcode
- best-before date or production period
- countries or regions affected
- the reason for the measure
- what the responsible economic operator offers
- a contact point for questions
Since December 2024, Implementing Regulation 2024/1435 has set a mandatory template for recall notices, so that the information stays comparable and is not worded in a way that plays down the seriousness.
Where they are published across the European Union
Two rapid alert systems operate at Union level: the Safety Gate for products that are not food, and the RASFF for food and feed. Each member state designates a national coordination point for both.
Where recalls are published in Germany
Responsibility is split by product type. There is no single portal that contains everything.
lebensmittelwarnung.de. Operated by the Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL) together with all 16 federal states. The legal basis is § 40 of the Food and Feed Code. It publishes notices on food, cosmetics, food-contact articles, tattoo products and baby and children products. The publication is made by the competent supreme authority of the federal state.
BAuA product safety database. The Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health publishes, under the Market Surveillance Act, recalls and warnings for products covered by the Product Safety Act: clothing, electrical appliances, furniture, toys, machinery and more. The recall platform is reachable at rueckrufe.de.
Recall database of the Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA). Responsible for motor vehicles and their accessories. This explains a striking figure in the statistics: in Germany roughly half of all Safety Gate notifications concern vehicles.
Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM). Responsible for measures concerning medicinal products and medical devices. Both areas are excluded from the general product safety regulation and follow separate procedures.
A product can therefore appear in the Safety Gate and in a German database at the same time. The notices complement one another rather than replacing one another.
In the neighbouring countries
For products bought in a neighbouring country, the notices sit in that country own portal: in Austria at the Agency for Health and Food Safety (AGES), in Switzerland at the Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office (BLV), in the Netherlands at the Nederlandse Voedsel- en Warenautoriteit (NVWA). The BAuA maintains an overview of these portals.
Why the split matters in practice
Whether a notice is found depends on the product category it falls into. A search only on lebensmittelwarnung.de does not cover electrical appliances, and a search only in the BAuA database does not cover food.
What the absence of a notice does not mean
Where no notice is found for a product, that states only that no official notice was present in the sources checked at the time of the check. It says nothing about the safety of the product itself.