It is no mystery that consumer products are increasingly produced for a global market. Governmental authorities are grappling with how to regulate their local markets and coordinate efforts regionally or globally to establish regulatory regimes that endeavour to: - achieve acceptable levels of health and safety protection for consumers, irrespective of where in the world they may reside; and - minimise the unnecessary burdens borne by the regulated industry. Where governmental action is perceived to be moving too slowly, or is failing to provide the appropriate level of health and safety protections, private litigants may act to try to 'speed things up' or 'fill in the gaps'. In this session, we will examine how these two forces (private litigation and governmental regulation) may act in concert or at odds with one another to influence health, safety and sometimes the redistribution of wealth in various countries around the globe.