The term "serious risk" is defined by § 2 No. 22 and 10 Product Safety Act (ProdSG) as well as § 2 subparagraph 1 Market Surveillance Act (MüG) in conjunction with Article 3 of Regulation (EU) 2019/1020.

• A risk is the combination of the probability of occurrence of a hazard and the severity of the possible damage.
• Serious is any risk that requires rapid intervention by the market surveillance authorities, even if the risk has no immediate effect.

The decision as to whether a product constitutes a serious risk shall be based on an appropriate risk assessment, taking into account the nature of the hazard and the likelihood of its occurrence.

Not every possible risk is a serious risk. The following criteria can guide you in determining whether a serious risk is likely:

• safety and health requirements of applicable legal regulations are not complied with or the safety and health of persons are endangered during intended use or foreseeable misuse and
• the hazard is sudden and unforeseeable, and
• the hazard is unavoidable for persons.

I assume my vehicle to expose a serious risk. How do I inform the Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt (KBA)?
KBA has set up a form for reporting potentially dangerous circumstances.

Please use our guide for preparing a notification.

Yes, manufacturers, distributors and importers are obliged to notify the market surveil-lance authorities and the type-approval authorities in case of serious risks and only the type-approval authority in case of non-compliance. This obligation arises, for example, for passenger cars and their parts for the manufacturer from Article 14 (1) sub-paragraph 2 and (2) of Regulation (EU) 2018/858.

If KBA's examination reveals that a product presents a serious risk or that the product does not comply with its respective requirements, the so called harmonisation legislation, it shall request the economic operator to take corrective action. If the economic operator does not take such measures, KBA orders restrictive measures to eliminate the defect. This can take the form of recalls, market restrictions or public warnings.

Yes, KBA orders recalls if the responsible economic operator does not ensure through its own measures that a serious risk is eliminated sufficiently quickly and effectively.

Accessory or vehicle part manufacturers may not receive addresses. They should first contact the vehicle manufacturer concerned so that the latter can carry out the recall. In special individual cases, the Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt (KBA) can determine addresses and write to the vehicle owners itself.

In the case of particularly dangerous defects, all affected vehicles must participate in a remedial measure. Therefore, at the end of such recall campaigns, the Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt (KBA) reports the vehicles that have not been overhauled to the registration authorities.

You can avoid an operating ban, if you have your vehicle repaired at a manufacturer's workshop before the operating ban is imposed and you prove this to the registration au-thority. Your registration authority will provide you with further details.

Manufacturers do not use the owner addresses of the Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt (KBA) for every recall. Therefore, please contact the vehicle manufacturer or the importer for Germany. They will inform you of the intended course of action.

Absolutely, recalls are only carried out if there is a significant defect in connection with a serious risk or in connection with a deviation from regulations. As the vehicle owner, you are responsible for the roadworthy and compliant condition of your vehicle. For your own safety and that of other road users, participation in a recall is mandatory. Failure to participate will result in the initiation of an operating ban.

Voluntary service measures by the manufacturers are not affected by this obligation.

Please address your questions to the vehicle manufacturer or the importer for Germany. The Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt (KBA) also provides you with the recall database for assessing whether a vehicle type is affected.

Please inform the vehicle manufacturer or importer of the address of the new vehicle owner to whom you sold the vehicle. You should also inform them if you have scrapped the vehicle.

For reasons of data protection, only vehicle manufacturers and holders of vehicle type-approvals (General Type-Approval, EU Type-Approval) can be provided with the addresses if there is a significant deficiency for road safety or the environment.

Further information on the provision of owner addresses can be found in the "Codex for the Execution of Recall Campaigns".

Before using your vehicle again, please be sure to clarify this issue with the manufacturer or a workshop authorised by the manufacturer for the recall.

Both the deviation from legal requirements and the existence of serious risks represent deficiencies that must be remedied by the economic operators within the framework of corrective measures. In both cases, KBA requires the economic operator to take binding measures and can also order the respective measures, if the economic operator fails to act or cooperates insufficiently.

However, serious risks associated with products have the special condition that, depending on the existing risk and the need for action on the part of the economic operators involved, a correspondingly rapid elimination of the defect is demanded. In exceptional cases, KBA can order immediate implementation of the corrective measure in order to protect consumers from damage.