The GPSR acts as a safety net. It applies to consumer products insofar as there are no specific provisions with the same objective in Union law. If your product is already covered by harmonisation legislation, the regulation continues to apply to risks not covered by that legislation. <\/p>\n\n
Regulation (EU) 2023\/988 dates from May 10, 2023. It applies from December 13, 2024. On that same date, the old General Product Safety Directive 2001\/95\/EC and Directive 87\/357\/EEC were repealed. The scope excludes, among others, medicinal products, food, animal feed, and living plants and animals. <\/p>\n\n
The most common misconception is this: my product has CE marking, so the GPSR does not apply to me. Article 2 says otherwise. For covered risks, specific legislation applies; for all other aspects, the GPSR remains in force. Both therefore apply side by side. <\/p>\n\n
Article 16 is strictly worded. A product may not be placed on the market unless there is an economic operator established in the Union who is responsible for it. If the manufacturer is established outside the EU, that role falls to the importer, an authorised representative, or a fulfilment service provider. <\/p>\n\n
The sequence is set out in Article 4 of the Market Surveillance Regulation (EU) 2019\/1020. If the manufacturer is in the EU, it is the manufacturer themselves. If they are outside, it is the importer’s turn. If there is no importer in the EU, there must be an authorised representative with a written mandate for these tasks. <\/p>\n\n
That person is not a mere mailbox. They regularly check whether the product conforms to the technical documentation and whether the requirements of Article 9 are being met. At the request of the market surveillance authority, they provide documented evidence of those checks. Their name and contact details appear on the product, the packaging, the parcel, or in an accompanying document. <\/p>\n
We regularly see a European address on the packaging without any underlying agreements. Who performs the checks? Who retains the evidence? Who responds to the regulator within what timeframe? Without those agreements, the listing is a risk rather than a solution. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
Article 19 sets four requirements for every distance offer. The name and the postal and email address of the manufacturer. For a manufacturer outside the EU, also those details of the responsible person. Information to identify the product, including an image. And all warnings or safety information. <\/p>\n\n
This is the provision that most often visibly goes wrong. Not because it is complicated, but because it is on the product page itself. Anyone can check it: a regulator, a trading platform, a competitor filing a report. No one from the outside sees the rest of your file, but everyone sees your product page. <\/p>\n\n
Pay particular attention to the warnings. These should be in the offer, i.e., before someone buys. A warning that only appears on the product inside the box comes too late for this provision. <\/p>\n\n
Before placing the product on the market, the manufacturer performs an internal risk analysis and prepares technical documentation. This contains at least a general description of the product and the characteristics relevant to safety. The documentation remains up to date and available to the authorities for ten years. <\/p>\n\n
If there are risks associated with the product, more should be included: an analysis of those risks, the measures you took to eliminate or reduce them, the results of test reports, and a list of the European standards you have applied. If you apply a standard only partially, you indicate which parts those are. <\/p>\n\n
That last sentence is often skipped. A test report that refers to a standard without stating which clauses were tested is difficult to defend during an inspection. <\/p>\n
Briefly let us know what kind of products are involved. We will contact you regarding what we can do and the costs involved. <\/p>\n\t\n\t\n
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