Recall campaign instructions for vehicle manufacturers, manufacturers’ representatives, importers and distributors.
If a vehicle is discovered to have a non-conformity or defect causing a serious risk, the vehicle manufacturer, the manufacturer’s representative, importer or distributor (“economic operators”) should take the corrective measures necessary to bring the vehicle into conformity (i.e. to ensure it meets requirements), to withdraw it from the market or to recall is, as appropriate.
The legal requirements concerning recall campaigns are laid down in EU framework regulations (2018/858, 168/2013 and 167/2013) or the Finnish Vehicles Act (82/2021), depending on the vehicle category.
A recall campaign must also be started if a vehicle has been notified in the SafetyGate alert system maintained by the European Commission and has been assessed to represent a serious risk. Traficom monitors weekly reports and contacts economic operators in Finland with enquiries, if necessary.
Traficom also monitors the ICSMS system for market surveillance. Via the ICSMS platform, authorities in EU countries can exchange information about products they have tested or investigated, test results and any non-conformities discovered.
Economic operators must report to Traficom all active recall campaigns that affect vehicles in Finland.
Vehicle manufacturers may also organise service campaigns on account of minor defects or shortcomings. These campaigns do not need to be notified to Traficom.
The recall obligation concerns all vehicle categories defined in the Vehicles Act. It applies to vehicles that have been approved for road transport in Finland and are used in Finland. The obligation concerns both vehicles subject to prior notification and individually imported vehicles.
Vehicles registered in the Åland Islands do not need to be included in the recall campaign notification.
Economic operators must ensure that recall campaigns are completed within a reasonable time.
The following step-by-step instructions do not apply to those categories of vehicles that do not need to be registered (e.g. bicycles and light electric vehicles). Notifications about vehicles and the related corrective measures can be submitted to Traficom in free form. Traficom will request additional information, if necessary. Economic operators must try to reach individually as many as possible of those consumers who have bought the product or make information about the campaign publicly available.
Instructions on how to send secure email to Traficom are available here (External link).
OTA (OVER-THE-AIR) RECALL CAMPAIGNS
This document provides instructions for carrying out OTA (Over-the-Air) recalls. Introduced as an alternative to a traditional recall, an OTA recall is a procedure in which the vehicle holder is notified of a recall electronically. In an OTA recall, the software of a vehicle system is updated over the air to bring the vehicle into conformity or make it so that the vehicle no longer causes a serious risk due to the software after the update.
OTA recalls must be notified to Traficom in accordance with the procedures prescribed by section 178 of the Vehicles Act (see the instructions below).
RECALL CAMPAIGN NOTIFICATION
Initiating a recall campaign
Determine the vehicles covered by the campaign
Ask the manufacturer to provide a global vehicle identification number (VIN) list of all the vehicles the campaign concerns.
Determine whether any vehicles covered by the campaign are registered in Finland
Send the VIN list and the invitation letter template to one of Traficom’s partners that provide direct marketing services (External link). Based on the list, the partner collects the addresses of the owners and holders of all relevant vehicles registered in Finland. Individually imported vehicles must also be taken into account.
The partner must be clearly informed about whether the campaign is a statutory recall campaign or a service campaign as this determines which parts of address information are disclosed from the register.
In connection with the collection of data, Traficom is provided with a list of vehicles whose owners or holders have forbidden the disclosure of their information for personal safety reasons so that the agency can send the repair invitation directly to them. Traficom does not disclose the information of persons who have an order of non-disclosure for safety reasons.
If the implementation of the recall campaign is given as an assignment to another economic operator, the assignment must be shown with a valid power of attorney, which can be used to verify the validity of the authorization. Validity can be indefinite or temporary.
Inform Traficom about the campaign
Inform Traficom about the initiation and schedule of the recall campaign by filling in the above notification form and sending it to recall@traficom.fi if vehicles found in the Finnish register.
Send invitation letters
Repair invitations are sent to customers whose vehicles the campaign concerns.
Send new invitations with up-to-date owner and holder details, if necessary
If necessary, send another invitation to repair. If the customer does not take the vehicle for repair after the second invitation, the third invitation is accompanied by a cover letter from Traficom. The cover letter and a document register number to be included in it can be requested from the address recall@traficom.fi.
Owner and holder information must be updated in connection with the sending of each invitation.
Ending the recall campaign if all vehicles have been repaired:
Notify the end of the recall campaign
Traficom is provided with a notification stating that all vehicles have been repaired and the recall campaign has been completed. The notification is submitted via email at recall@traficom.fi. Traficom records the campaign’s end date based on the notification.
Ending the recall campaign if all vehicles subject to the campaign have not been repaired:
Submit a list of unrepaired vehicles to Traficom
A list of all vehicles that have not been repaired is submitted to Traficom (recall@traficom.fi) within nine weeks from sending the cover letter. Traficom makes a restriction entry for the unrepaired vehicles in the Vehicular and Driver Data Register and records the campaign’s end date.
The restriction will cause the vehicle to be rejected in the next periodic, registration or control inspection. The restriction entry is issued on the basis of Section 178 of the Vehicle Act (82/2021).
Removing the restriction
The restriction may not be removed and the vehicle may not pass the inspection until the inspector is shown a statement provided by the manufacturer, manufacturer’s representative or an authorised repair shop stating that the repairs required under the campaign have been completed. The removal of the restriction of a vehicle not subject to periodic inspection is also carried out at the vehicle inspection station.
The public nature of recall campaigns
The information on recall campaigns is public. Traficom maintains a database on recall campaigns (External link). The database is updated regularly based on notifications provided by manufacturers and manufacturers’ representatives.