No, they didn't mention recall in the announcement. Here's the global announcement in its entirety. Regional announcements are virtually identical but for a line or two specific to individual territories:
Statement on Galaxy Note 7
Samsung is committed to producing the highest quality products and we take every incident report from our valued customers very seriously. In response to recently reported cases of the new Galaxy Note 7, we conducted a thorough investigation and found a battery cell issue.
To date (as of September 1) there have been 35 cases that have been reported globally and we are currently conducting a thorough inspection with our suppliers to identify possible affected batteries in the market. However, because our customers' safety is an absolute priority at Samsung, we have stopped sales of the Galaxy Note 7.
For customers who already have Galaxy Note 7 devices, we will voluntarily replace their current device with a new one over the coming weeks.
We acknowledge the inconvenience this may cause in the market but this is to ensure that Samsung continues to deliver the highest quality products to our customers. We are working closely with our partners to ensure the replacement experience is as convenient and efficient as possible.
As you say, voluntary recalls happen every day, thus it's not unprecedneted. And companies call it just that. Why? Because everyone knows exactly what a recall is and what it means. It's days later, and, in Canada at least, we still don't know exactly what our rights are, or what we're supposed to do with our phones. I've gotten more information from forums and blogs than from Samsung itself. I still haven't even gotten an email from Samsung advising there's an issue and I bought direct from Samsung. If samsung has issued an actual voluntary recall, then why not just use the word?
Samsung has never used the word recall in any of its official statements or remarks. Using the phrase Product Replacement Program is a sidestep to having an actual recall. There is no definitive definition to what that phrase means; It's left to Samsung to define which is the entire point of them not calling it a recall.