The General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR), effective from December 13, 2024, is a new EU law that replaces the General Product Safety Directive and aims to enhance consumer protection by ensuring the safety of products sold in the EU, including those sold online.

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Here's a more detailed breakdown:

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Purpose:

The GPSR aims to improve product safety standards across the EU by providing a "safety net" for products or risks not covered by other EU legislation, ensuring that only safe products are placed on the market.

Scope:

The GPSR applies to all consumer products, including those sold online, new, used, repaired, or reconditioned, and those that have migrated from professional use to the consumer market.

Key changes:

The GPSR introduces new obligations for manufacturers, importers, and distributors, including stricter requirements for risk assessments, documentation, and labeling, as well as enhanced traceability and recall procedures.

Who is affected?

The GPSR applies to all businesses selling products into the EU and Northern Ireland, regardless of their location, including retailers, manufacturers, importers, distributors, and online marketplaces.

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Key Dates

May 23, 2023: The European Commission published Regulation (EU) 2023/988 on general product safety, also known as the General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR).

December 13, 2024: The GPSR became applicable and replaced the General Product Safety Directive (GPSD).

Exemptions:

The GPSR does not apply to medicinal products (human or veterinary), food and feed, living plants and animals, genetically modified organisms, animal by-products and derived products, plant protection products, equipment on which consumers ride or travel where that equipment is directly operated by a service provider, aircraft, and antiques.

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