Imagine you’re standing in a competition where your team continuously loses players while the opposing side keeps getting more reinforcements. What started as a fair fight develops into a hopelessly unbalanced power relationship. This is exactly what companies are experiencing today in the field of Product Compliance.
What’s happening in the business world is nothing less than a dramatic shift in power: While requirements for product safety, sustainability, and documentation grow exponentially and form like an overwhelming opponent, companies’ own possibilities for effective control are simultaneously shrinking continuously. This development leads to life-threatening Product Compliance risks.
The numbers speak clearly: In the first half of 2025 alone, over 2,551 dangerous products were reported in the EU Safety Gate – an increase of over 37% compared to the previous year. At the same time, studies show that companies need increasingly longer to identify and remedy compliance violations.
Rising requirements meet declining control capability
Like in a competition where the opposing side constantly sends new players onto the field, regulatory requirements become increasingly overwhelming:
The Number of Regulations Explodes: Since 2010, the number of product-relevant EU regulations has more than doubled. From the new Product Safety Regulation to the European Deforestation Regulation to the new Ecodesign Regulation – the regulatory “team” grows stronger daily.
Product Complexity Intensifies Pressure: Modern consumer goods today contain on average 40% more components than ten years ago. Every new function, every additional material brings new compliance opponents into play.
Tempo Intensification: The pressure to bring products to market faster means that compliance checks increasingly take place under time pressure – while the opposing side simultaneously increases its striking power.
Global Reinforcement: The number of distribution countries and regions per product has tripled on average over the last 15 years. Each new market brings additional regulatory “players” into the field.
Particularly problematic: Traditional regulatory actors are increasingly getting reinforcements. NGOs now act like professional “compliance hunters” who systematically monitor product safety and sustainability. Consumer organizations conduct their own tests and mobilize the public through social media. Authorities at various levels coordinate better and bundle their forces.
The focus on sustainability and compliance has evolved from a “nice-to-have” to a business-critical power factor. Customers, investors, and partners today expect complete transparency – and react to violations with the combined force of the market.
While regulatory dominance grows, companies paradoxically lose their own strength continuously. The reasons are structural:
Less In-House Development: Companies increasingly focus on their core competencies in sales and reduce in-house development. This means: less direct control over product details and materials – their own “team strength” diminishes.
Superficial Product Knowledge: The more components are purchased externally, the more superficial the knowledge about actual product composition becomes. Compliance managers become document administrators instead of product experts.
Loss of Material Control: Control over raw materials and intermediate products is lost. What was once tested in their own laboratory is now taken over as a “black box” from suppliers.
More Complex Production Processes: Modern manufacturing processes are highly complex and change continuously. What was still manageable yesterday can become an uncontrollable risk factor today through process optimization.
Skills Shortage: The shortage of technically qualified employees particularly affects areas with high technical requirements. At the same time, the average technical understanding in purchasing and compliance departments declines.
More Frequent Product Changes: While previously new products remained in the market for two or three years, today in some product areas new products are brought to market every two to three months. Even minor product changes often require new material testing, laboratory tests, and complete documentation.
Unstable Partnerships: Geopolitical tensions, pandemics, and natural disasters lead to frequent supplier changes – often without adequate compliance testing of new partners.
Communication Barriers: The increasing shift of production to Asia intensifies communication problems. Technical specifications and compliance requirements are often misunderstood or incompletely implemented.
The effects of this dramatic shift in power are already noticeable in all industries today:
Product Recalls increase: In 2024 alone, there were over 1,250 ordered or voluntary product recalls in the EU Safety Gate. Market Access Barriers become more frequent: Authorities consistently use their grown power. Liability Risks explode: Damage claims reach life-threatening dimensions.
Rising Compliance Costs: Companies today spend on average 3-5% of their revenue on compliance – trend dramatically increasing. Longer Time-to-Market: Product launches are delayed by an average of 6-8 weeks due to compliance checks. Lost Market Opportunities: Markets remain closed because compliance requirements cannot be fulfilled with available forces.
In the digitized world, negative news about product safety problems spreads globally within hours. A single compliance violation can destroy years of built-up trust in minutes – the market’s dominance is merciless.
To understand the current shift in power, it’s worth looking at the development of the last 25 years:
From selective regulation to comprehensive system
2000-2005: Balanced Starting Position
2001: General Product Safety Directive establishes first uniform standards. 2004: REACH pre-announcement – first warning signs of coming changes.
2006-2010: First Power Shifts
2006: RoHS Directive revolutionizes electronics industry – new rules of the game. 2007: REACH comes into force – paradigm shift changes power relations. 2008: Toy Directive tightens standards – pressure rises noticeably.
2011-2015: Accelerated Power Shift
2011: CE marking becomes a digital challenge. 2013: Construction Products Regulation introduces harmonized standards. 2014: Machinery Directive significantly expands requirements.
2016-2020: Sustainability as New Power Factor
2016: GDPR announces new era of data regulation. 2018: Ecodesign Directive captures more and more product groups. 2019: Single-Use Plastic Directive fundamentally changes packaging industry.
2021-2025: Dominance Establishes Itself
2021: Green Deal starts EU-wide sustainability offensive. 2022: EUDR (EU Deforestation Regulation) tightens supply chain monitoring. 2023: Battery Regulation introduces digital product passport. 2023: CSDDD (Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive) expands due diligence obligations. 2024: New Ecodesign Regulation revolutionizes product requirements. 2024: Product Safety Regulation comes into force. 2024: Packaging Regulation tightens recycling requirements. 2024: CBAM (Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism) introduces CO2 border adjustment. 2025: EU Work Plan – Introduction of Digital Product Passport for textiles and furniture mandatory from 2028/2029. 2025: New Toy Regulation shortly before adoption.
This development shows: What once began as a balanced competition has developed into a dramatic power imbalance. Particularly noteworthy: While between 2000 and 2015 about every 2-3 years an important new regulation was introduced, since 2021 it has been on average 2-3 new regulations per year – dominance intensifies exponentially.
The good news: The power imbalance is not an inevitable fate. Companies that strategically strengthen their own forces and intelligently deal with dominance can not only restore balance but even gain competitive advantages.
Automated Monitoring: Modern software solutions can automatically monitor regulatory changes and proactively warn companies. Instead of reactively fighting against dominance, risks are anticipated and countermeasures prepared.
Integrated Documentation: Digital product passports and PLM systems create for the first time the possibility to centrally manage all product-relevant information and automatically update it – a decisive force enhancement.
Predictive Compliance: AI-based systems can predict which products are more likely to develop compliance problems based on historical data.
Suppliers as Allies: Instead of just informing suppliers about requirements, they are developed into real compliance partners. Joint training and regular audits create a strong alliance against regulatory dominance.
Expand Supplier Evaluation: New suppliers are evaluated not only according to price and quality, but also according to their compliance strength. A weak partner weakens the entire team.
Build Cultural Bridges: Especially with Asian suppliers, cultural training and local compliance experts are crucial for a strong partnership.
Cross-functional Teams: Compliance is no longer the task of a single department. Successful companies bundle the forces of interdisciplinary teams from technology, purchasing, legal, and marketing.
Continuous Qualification: In a rapidly changing regulatory landscape, lifelong learning is mandatory. Regular training and certifications keep the team ready for battle.
External Expertise as Reinforcement: Specialized consulting companies can function as an “external compliance department” and decisively strengthen internal forces.
The power imbalance in the Product Compliance area is real and will continue to intensify in the coming years. Companies that still hope today that the problem will solve itself will soon be overrun by regulatory dominance.
The challenge is enormous, but not hopeless. However, it requires a systematic approach, strategic thinking, and the willingness to invest in new technologies and competencies.
Three Central Success Factors for the New Balance:
Gather Forces Early: Those who wait until a compliance problem becomes acute are already fighting in hopeless minority. Prevention is not only more cost-effective but also more successful than reaction.
Systematically Form Alliances: Individual fighters have no chance against regulatory dominance. A comprehensive compliance strategy is needed that bundles all available forces.
Get Professional Reinforcement: The complexity of the modern compliance landscape exceeds the capabilities of most companies. External expertise is not luxury, but vital reinforcement.
The power imbalance will continue to intensify – but you don’t have to go under. With the right strategy, the right allies, and competent reinforcement, you can not only restore balance but even make compliance a strategic advantage.
The life-threatening power imbalance affects every company – regardless of size or industry. trinasco supports you in strengthening your forces and restoring balance.
What do we need to do now? Book our free initial consultation now. Save $249!
What do we need to do now?
Book our free initial consultation now.
Save €249!!
What do we need to do now?
Book our free initial consultation now.
Save €249!!
