GPSR, the General Product Safety Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2023/988), is the EU law that allows only safe products to be sold to consumers in the EU and says what each company in the supply chain must do to show it.
It has applied since 13 December 2024 and also reaches sellers outside the EU whose online offers are aimed at EU consumers.
Below is what GPSR requires, which products it covers, who can be your EU responsible person and what each company has to do.
GPSR is not a rule for toys and electrical goods alone. It covers almost any product a consumer may use, from a scented candle to a second-hand jacket, and that includes products a business gives away for free.
To guide you the best way, it helps to know where your company is based, because GPSR asks different things of a company set up in the EU and one selling into the EU from abroad.
Is your company established in the EU?
Pick your answer below for the right guidance.
GPSR at a glance
Below are the six facts that decide how GPSR applies to a product.
| Fact | What the law says |
|---|---|
| Law | Regulation (EU) 2023/988 on general product safety, which replaced the General Product Safety Directive 2001/95/EC |
| Type | An EU regulation, so it binds companies directly in every EU country with no national law in between |
| Applies since | 13 December 2024 |
| Covers | Consumer products, new or used, sold in a shop or online, paid for or given away |
| Who must act | Manufacturers, importers, distributors, authorised representatives, fulfilment service providers and online marketplaces |
| Last changed | Regulation (EU) 2024/2748, which added emergency procedures from 29 May 2026 |
The facts follow the consolidated text in EUR-Lex's record of the General Product Safety Regulation, in its version of 29 May 2026, which includes the one amendment so far.
The one rule GPSR sets
Article 5 of GPSR is a single sentence. Companies may only place or make available on the market products that are safe.
A safe product, in article 3, is one that presents no risk under normal or reasonably foreseeable use, for as long as it is actually used, or only the minimum risk that is acceptable for that kind of product.
Article 6 lists what goes into that judgement, among them these five points.
- The product itself, meaning its design, technical features, composition, packaging and instructions
- How it works with other products it is likely to be used with
- Its labelling and warnings, including whether it suits children of a given age
- Who will use it, with extra weight on children, older people and people with disabilities
- What it looks like, for example a product that could be mistaken for food
The rest of the law is about proof. Before a product is sold, someone has to be able to show it is safe, trace it and be reached about it, which is why GPSR puts the same handful of details on every product.
The manufacturer's details go on the product itself, and on the packaging or in an accompanying document only where that is not possible (article 9(6)). The importer and the EU responsible person add their own details in the same way (articles 11(3) and 16(3)).
Products GPSR covers and leaves out
Three questions decide whether GPSR applies to a product, and how much of it.
- Is it a consumer product?
GPSR covers any item meant for consumers, or likely to be used by them even when it was not meant for them (article 3). It makes no difference whether a business sells it or gives it away.
Food, feed, medicines, living plants and animals, plant protection products and antiques are left out (article 2).
- Is it offered to consumers in the EU?
A product counts as made available in the EU when it is sold there, and also when an online offer is aimed at EU consumers (article 4). New, used, repaired and reconditioned products are all covered, unless a product is sold to be repaired before use and is clearly marked as such.
- Does a CE law already cover it?
Where another EU law sets safety rules for a product, such as the laws behind CE marking, GPSR only covers the risks that law leaves out (article 2). For those products the company duties in articles 9 to 18 fall away, but GPSR's rules on online offers and accidents still apply.
For most CE-marked products, Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 still requires a company established in the EU to be responsible for them.
If the answer to the first two questions is yes, GPSR applies to the product, and the duties below are yours.
Who can be your EU responsible person under GPSR?
Article 16 sets the rule most sellers from outside the EU run into. A product covered by GPSR may not be placed on the EU market unless a company established in the EU is responsible for it.
Article 4(2) of the Market Surveillance Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 lists who can take that role, and GPSR applies the same list.
Who takes the role in your case
Established in the EU. If you make the product and your company is established in the EU, you are the responsible person. If you import a product made outside the EU, the role sits with you as the importer.
Selling from outside the EU. You need someone established in the EU to take the role before the product is placed on the market, either your importer or an authorised representative you appoint with a written mandate.
A fulfilment service provider in the EU only takes it on when none of the others exists.
The four tasks of an EU responsible person
Article 4(3) of the Market Surveillance Regulation and article 16 of GPSR give whoever takes the role these four tasks.
- Make sure the technical documentation exists and hand the authorities what they ask for
- Tell the authorities when there is reason to believe the product presents a risk
- Cooperate on any corrective action, such as a withdrawal or a recall
- Check regularly that the product matches its technical documentation and its labels
Their name, postal address and email address go on the product, its packaging, the parcel or an accompanying document (article 16(3)), and in every online offer (article 19).
This is a different role from an EPR authorised representative, who registers and reports packaging, electronics or batteries in one country. The two come from different laws, so appointing one does not cover the other.
Six duties GPSR puts on a manufacturer
The steps below follow a product from before it goes on sale to after it reaches the customer, with the article behind each one. Importers, distributors and online marketplaces check most of the same points, as the end of this section explains.
Step 1. Analyse the risks and write them down
Before the product goes on the market, carry out an internal risk analysis and draw up technical documentation (article 9(2)).
At the least, the documentation describes the product and the characteristics that matter for its safety. Where the product carries risks, it also covers how they were assessed and what was done to remove or reduce them.
Keep the documentation for 10 years after the product was placed on the market (article 9(3)). You are done when it exists and you could hand it to an authority the day it asks.
Step 2. Make the product traceable
Give the product a type, batch or serial number that consumers can easily see and read (article 9(5)). Where the product is too small for it, the number goes on the packaging or in an accompanying document.
Then add your name or registered trade mark with your postal and email address (article 9(6)). You are done when anyone holding the product can tell which batch it came from and who made it.
Step 3. Name an EU responsible person if you are outside the EU
A manufacturer outside the EU cannot place the product on the market until a company established in the EU has taken on the role of EU responsible person (article 16).
In practice that is your importer or an authorised representative with a written mandate.
Agree it before the first shipment, because their name and address have to appear on the product, its packaging, the parcel or an accompanying document, and in your listings. You are done when that company has accepted the role in writing.
Step 4. Add instructions in the buyer's language
The product has to come with clear instructions and safety information in a language consumers can easily understand, and each EU country decides which language that is (article 9(7)).
Selling in five countries can therefore mean as many as five language versions. The only exception is a product that can be used safely and as intended without any instructions. You are done when every market you sell in has its version.
Step 5. Show the same details in every online offer
An online listing has to show clearly the details a buyer would otherwise find on the product (article 19).
That is the manufacturer's name with its postal and email address, the EU responsible person's when the manufacturer is outside the EU, a picture of the product with its type, and the warnings in the buyer's language.
You are done when each listing in each marketplace shows all four.
Step 6. Act fast when something goes wrong
If you have reason to believe a product you have placed on the market is dangerous, you have to act at once (article 9(8)).
That means taking corrective measures, up to a withdrawal or recall, and informing consumers, and informing the authorities through the Safety Business Gateway, which is reached from the European Commission's Safety Gate site.
An accident that caused a death or serious harm to someone's health is reported the same way, without undue delay, to the authorities of the country where it happened (article 20). You are done when you know who in your company would file that report.
The duties further down the chain
Three other kinds of company in the chain have checks of their own.
- Importers check before selling that the product is safe and that the manufacturer has done steps 1 and 2 (article 11(1)). They add their own name and postal and email address, and keep a copy of the technical documentation for 10 years (articles 11(3) and 11(6)).
- Distributors check that the manufacturer and the importer have put the required details on the product (article 12(1)).
- Online marketplaces register with the EU's Safety Gate Portal, give the authorities and consumers a single point of contact each, and take down offers of dangerous products when an authority orders it (article 22).
When GPSR applies and what changed in 2026
GPSR has applied since 13 December 2024, when it replaced the General Product Safety Directive 2001/95/EC (articles 50 and 52). Products that met the old directive and were placed on the market before 13 December 2024 may still be sold (article 51).
The one change so far, Regulation (EU) 2024/2748, has applied since 29 May 2026. It adds emergency procedures that only switch on if the EU activates an internal market emergency for the products concerned.
The everyday duties of manufacturers, importers, distributors and marketplaces are unchanged.
Fines and enforcement under GPSR
GPSR sets no fine of its own. Each EU country lays down its own penalties, which have to be effective, proportionate and dissuasive, and had to report its rules to the Commission by 13 December 2024 (article 44). The amount therefore depends on the country where the breach happens.
The national market surveillance authorities enforce the law. They can order an online marketplace to take down the offer of a dangerous product (article 22).
When a product is recalled, the company behind the recall must give consumers a remedy that is effective, free and quick. Consumers choose between at least two of repair, replacement with a safe product and a refund (article 37).
Where Repax fits next to GPSR
GPSR is one of several sets of EU rules a product meets on its way to a customer. Its packaging, and any electronics or batteries inside it, also carry EPR duties in each country where it is sold, from registration to regular reporting, as the guide to EPR registration in Europe explains.
Do you also need EPR registrations in the EU? Repax Comply runs your EPR registrations market by market, with an authorised representative where one is required. Explore ComplyRepax does not act as a GPSR responsible person and does not write technical documentation. Those stay with you, your importer or the representative you appoint.
Frequently asked questions about GPSR
Below are the eight questions sellers ask most about GPSR, each answered on its own.
What is GPSR?
GPSR is the General Product Safety Regulation, Regulation (EU) 2023/988. It has applied since 13 December 2024 and allows only safe consumer products onto the EU market, with duties for manufacturers, importers, distributors, responsible persons and online marketplaces.
Does GPSR apply to sellers outside the EU?
Yes. An online offer aimed at EU consumers counts as making the product available in the EU. A product from outside the EU also needs a company established in the EU, usually the importer or an authorised representative, to be responsible for it.
Do I need an EU responsible person to sell on Amazon or Etsy?
Yes, if your product falls under GPSR. The law asks for one whatever the sales channel, and when the manufacturer is outside the EU, every listing must show that person's name, postal address and email address. Marketplace rules come on top of the law.
Does GPSR apply to free products and gifts?
Yes, when a business supplies them. GPSR covers products supplied in the course of a commercial activity, whether in return for payment or free of charge, so free samples and giveaways must meet the same safety rules as the products a business sells.
Does GPSR apply to used and second-hand products?
Yes. GPSR covers new, used, repaired and reconditioned products alike. The one exception is a product sold to be repaired or reconditioned before it is used, as long as it is clearly marked as such when it is sold.
Do CE-marked products have to follow GPSR?
Partly. GPSR only covers the risks the CE law leaves out, and its manufacturer and importer duties fall away, but its rules on online offers and accidents still apply. For most CE products, Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 still requires an EU-based responsible company.
What are the fines under GPSR?
GPSR sets no EU-wide fine. Each EU country lays down its own penalties, which have to be effective, proportionate and dissuasive, so the amount depends on the country where the breach happens and is found in that country's own law.
Did GPSR replace the General Product Safety Directive?
Yes. GPSR repealed Directive 2001/95/EC with effect from 13 December 2024. Products that met the old directive and were placed on the market before that date can still be sold in the EU.
