Product Liability Directive (PLD)

(57) Given that products age over time and that higher safety standards are developed as the state of science and technology progresses, it would not be reasonable to make manufacturers liable for an unlimited period of time for the defectiveness of their products. Therefore, liability should be subject to a reasonable length of time, namely 10 years from the placing on the market or putting into service of a product (the ‘expiry period’), without prejudice to claims pending in legal proceedings. In order to avoid unreasonably restricting the possibility of compensation for damage caused by a defective product, the expiry period should be extended to 25 years in cases where the symptoms of a personal injury are, according to medical evidence, slow to emerge.