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GPSR: what it is, and who it reaches

You have heard of GPSR and need to know whether it reaches what you sell.

The short answer

GPSR is the EU safety law for consumer products, applied since 13 December 2024. It reaches your offer if it is aimed at consumers in the Union, whatever your address. Nine categories are outside it.

The short answer

Regulation (EU) 2023/988 is the EU safety law for consumer products, and it has applied since 13 December 2024 (Art. 52Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 52Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). An offer you make online is inside it if the offer is aimed at consumers in the Union, whatever your own address is (Art. 4Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 4Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). Nine categories are taken back out of it altogether, from medicinal products and food to antiques (Art. 2(2)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 2, paragraph 2Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.); where other EU law already covers the safety of a product, GPSR covers only the aspects and risks that law leaves open (Art. 2(1)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 2, paragraph 1Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., first subparagraph); and where that other law is Union harmonisation legislation, named chapters of GPSR do not apply to the product at all (Art. 2(1)(b)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 2, paragraph 1, point (b)Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.).

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Regulation (EU) 2023/988 (General Product Safety Regulation), applicable from 13 December 2024Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationThe whole regulationClick opens the law on EUR-Lex.
Topics
GPSR, product safety, EU regulation

What GPSR stands for, and what it replaced

GPSR stands for General Product Safety Regulation: Regulation (EU) 2023/988Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationThe whole regulationClick opens the law on the EU Publications Office. on general product safety. It lays down the essential safety rules for consumer products sold in the EU (Art. 1(2)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 1, paragraph 2Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.), and it replaced the General Product Safety Directive, Directive 2001/95/EC, on 13 December 2024 (Art. 50(1)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 50, paragraph 1Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 52Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 52Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.).

The same article also repealed Directive 87/357/EEC, on products that look like food: “Directives 87/357/EEC and 2001/95/EC are repealed with effect from ” (Art. 50(1)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 50, paragraph 1Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). Stock that met the old Directive and was placed on the market before keeps its place on the market (Art. 51Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 51Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.); see “What you can skip” below.

Is it a consumer product?

Art. 3(1)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 3, point 1Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.

Outside GPSR

You can stop here

Is it on the excluded list?

Art. 2(2)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 2, paragraph 2Click opens the article on EUR-Lex. · points (a) to (i)

Outside GPSR

You can stop here

Does EU sector law cover it?

Art. 2(1)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 2, paragraph 1Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.

Sector law first

Arts. 9Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 9Click opens the article on EUR-Lex. to 18Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 18Click opens the article on EUR-Lex. off · Art. 2(1)(b)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 2, paragraph 1, point (b)Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.

Is the offer targeted at consumers in the Union?

Art. 4Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 4Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.

Outside GPSR

You can stop here

GPSR reaches your product

Only safe products may be placed or made available

Art. 5Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 5Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.

How to answer the six questions

Four facts decide it, and the diagram runs them in that order.

  • Is what you sell a consumer productArt. 3(1)any item, whether or not it is interconnected to other items, supplied or made available, whether for consideration or not, including in the context of providing a service, which is intended for consumers ...Click the term for the full definition at all? (Art. 3(1)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 3, point 1Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.)
  • Is it one of the nine categories that Art. 2(2)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 2, paragraph 2Click opens the article on EUR-Lex. leaves out?
  • Does EU sector law of its own already cover it? (Art. 2(1)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 2, paragraph 1Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.)
  • Is your offer aimed at consumers in the Union? (Art. 4Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 4Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.)

Your own address is not the test. An offer you make online is making the product availableArt. 3(6)any supply of a product for distribution, consumption or use on the Union market in the course of a commercial activity, whether in return for payment or free of chargeClick the term for the full definition on the EU market if the offer is aimed at consumers in the Union, and it counts as aimed at them if you direct your activities, by any means, at one or more EU countries (Art. 4Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 4Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). A business in Ohio running a German-language storefront is inside that test. Where the warehouse sits, and where the company is registered, do not come into it.

Answer the six questions below. Each takes yes, no or “don’t know”, and “don’t know” opens a smaller set of questions that gets you to one or the other.

Six questions, three or four answers each. The result names the duties that bind you, the duties that do not, and what is still open. Where your answer is don’t know, open the smaller set of questions under it.

1Do you offer consumer productsArt. 3(1)any item, whether or not it is interconnected to other items, supplied or made available, whether for consideration or not, including in the context of providing a service, which is intended for consumers ...Click the term for the full definition to buyers in the EU?
Don’t know whether your offer counts?
  • An offer made online counts if it is targeted at consumers in the Union, and it is targeted if you direct your activities, by any means, to one or more EU countries (Art. 4).
  • Your own address is not the test. A business outside the EU that offers to EU buyers is inside it, and where your warehouse sits changes nothing (Art. 4).
  • Supply for distribution, consumption or use on the Union market counts whether you are paid for it or not (Art. 3(6)).
2Is the product one of the nine categories GPSR leaves out altogether — medicinal products, food, feed, living plants and animals, animal by-products, plant protection products, transport equipment operated by a service provider, certain aircraft, or antiquesArt. 3(28)products, such as collectors’ items or works of art, in relation to which consumers cannot reasonably expect that they fulfil state-of-the-art safety standardsClick the term for the full definition⁠?
Don’t know whether your product is on that list?
  • The list is closed. It is Art. 2(2), points (a) to (i), and nothing outside those nine points is excluded by it. If you cannot find your product in the list, the answer is no.
  • Antiques are products, such as collectors’ items or works of art, for which consumers cannot reasonably expect state-of-the-art safety standards (Art. 3(28)). Age alone is not the test; what a consumer can reasonably expect is.
  • Second-hand is not on the list. GPSR applies to products whether new, used, repaired or reconditioned (Art. 2(3)).
3Is the product covered by EU sector law of its ownArt. 3(27)Union legislation listed in Annex I to Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 and any other Union legislation harmonising the conditions for the marketing of products to which that Regulation appliesClick the term for the full definition — a toy, a cosmetic, a medical device, an electrical appliance?
Don’t know whether sector law covers your product?
  • Union harmonisation legislation is the legislation listed in Annex I to Regulation (EU) 2019/1020, plus any other Union legislation harmonising the marketing conditions of the products that Regulation covers (Art. 3(27)).
  • A CE mark on the product is a strong sign, because the mark is affixed under that sector law. Annex I names the sector laws one by one, and a product under any of them is covered.
  • Our reading, not the guidelines’ words: a law that touches almost every product, such as the REACH chemical limits, does not count on its own. The Commission’s guidelines never mention REACH, but they name childcare articles, gymnastic equipment and furniture as products GPSR covers in full, because no other EU law sets specific requirements for them (C/2025/6233, section 2.2), and REACH limits reach furniture too.
  • Clothing and footwear are an edge case. Their own EU law is labelling only (Regulation (EU) No 1007/2011, Directive 94/11/EC), and both are on the Annex I list. Read literally, that is a yes; read by the furniture example, a labelling law may not count. Answer yes: the result says which duties to act on.
  • A yes here does not take you out of GPSR. It changes which parts of GPSR apply to you (Art. 2(1)).
4Is your business established in the EU?
Don’t know whether you count as established in the EU?
  • It decides whether you can be the importerArt. 3(10)any natural or legal person established within the Union who places a product from a third country on the Union marketClick the term for the full definition: an importer is a person established within the Union who places a product from a third country on the Union market (Art. 3(10)).
  • It does not decide whether GPSR reaches you. A product covered by GPSR may not be placed on the market at all unless some economic operatorArt. 3(13)the manufacturer, the authorised representative, the importer, the distributor, the fulfilment service provider or any other natural or legal person who is subject to obligations in relation to the manufacture of products or making them available on the market ...Click the term for the full definition based in the EU is responsible for it (Art. 16(1)). For a product with its own EU law, the same rule comes from Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 where that law is on its list (Art. 4(1) and 4(5) of that Regulation).
  • A subsidiary, a branch or a group company inside the EU is a different legal person from you. Answer for the business that actually carries out the placing on the marketArt. 3(7)the first making available of a product on the Union marketClick the term for the full definition (Art. 3(7)).
5Do you sell only through an online marketplaceArt. 3(14)a provider of an intermediary service using an online interface which allows consumers to conclude distance contracts with traders for the sale of productsClick the term for the full definition⁠, or also direct?
Don’t know which one your channel is?
  • A provider of an online marketplace is an intermediary whose online interface lets consumers conclude distance contracts with traders (Art. 3(14)). Amazon, Etsy and eBay are that. Your own shop is not.
  • If you take orders anywhere of your own — a website, a social account, email — answer “direct, or both”: the Art. 19 offer duty lands on you there with nobody else in the chain to catch it.
6Are the products new, second-hand, or both?
Don’t know which you are?
  • GPSR applies to products placed or made available on the market whether new, used, repaired or reconditioned (Art. 2(3)). Second-hand does not take you out.
  • One narrow exit sits in the same paragraph: a product placed on the market to be repaired or reconditioned before it is used, and clearly marked as such, is outside GPSR (Art. 2(3)).

If the result says GPSR reaches you:

  1. Make sure an economic operatorArt. 3(13)the manufacturer, the authorised representative, the importer, the distributor, the fulfilment service provider or any other natural or legal person who is subject to obligations in relation to the manufacture of products or making them available on the market ...Click the term for the full definition based in the EU is responsible for each product; without one, the product may not be placed on the market. For a toy, an electrical product or another product with its own EU law, that rule comes from Regulation (EU) 2019/1020Regulation (EU) 2019/1020, Market Surveillance RegulationThe whole regulationClick opens the law on the EU Publications Office. instead of GPSR. Who can be yours, and under which rule: the EU Responsible Person.
  2. Find the role you hold for the product, and what it owes: what GPSR requires of you, by role.

What GPSR asks of a business, in short

Which duties are yours depends on your role (Art. 9Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 9Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 11Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 11Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 12Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 12Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). Besides the EU-based operator, four duties carry most of GPSR:

  1. The maker writes a risk analysis and a technical file before the product goes on sale (Art. 9(2)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 9, paragraph 2Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.): GPSR technical documentation.
  2. The product carries a type, batch or serial number, and the maker’s name, postal and electronic address. Where the product cannot carry them, they go on the packaging or in a document that comes with it (Art. 9(5)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 9, paragraph 5Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 9(6)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 9, paragraph 6Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.): the GPSR label.
  3. The online offer shows the maker, the EU contact where the maker is outside the EU, a picture and identifier of the product, and the warnings (Art. 19Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 19Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.): GPSR marketplace requirements.
  4. The maker reports an accident that caused a death or serious harm to health through the Safety Business Gateway, without undue delay, to the authorities of the country where it happened. An importer or distributor who learns of one tells the maker (Art. 20(1)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 20, paragraph 1Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 20(2)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 20, paragraph 2Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 20(3)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 20, paragraph 3Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.): product recall under GPSR.

Where GPSR applies, and whether it is enforced

GPSR covers sales to consumers in the EU and in Northern Ireland; Great Britain keeps its own 2005 rules. Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein have not yet taken GPSR into the EEA Agreement, so the old Directive 2001/95/EC is still the EEA rule there (EEA-Lex). The detail, country by country: where GPSR applies.

GPSR is enforced. Each EU country’s market surveillance authorities use the powers of Regulation (EU) 2019/1020Regulation (EU) 2019/1020, Market Surveillance RegulationThe whole regulationClick opens the law on the EU Publications Office. on GPSR products (Art. 23Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 23Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.), and the Commission reported 4,671 Safety Gate alerts on dangerous non-food products in 2025, from EU and EEA authorities, “the highest level on record” (European Commission). What that means for you: GPSR fines.

One duty lands before any role does: a product covered by GPSR may not be placed on the market unless an EU-based economic operatorArt. 3(13)the manufacturer, the authorised representative, the importer, the distributor, the fulfilment service provider or any other natural or legal person who is subject to obligations in relation to the manufacture of products or making them available on the market ...Click the term for the full definition is responsible for it (Art. 16(1)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 16, paragraph 1Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). For a product with its own EU law, Art. 16Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 16Click opens the article on EUR-Lex. does not apply (Art. 2(1)(b)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 2, paragraph 1, point (b)Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.), and Regulation (EU) 2019/1020Regulation (EU) 2019/1020, Market Surveillance RegulationThe whole regulationClick opens the law on the EU Publications Office. asks for the same EU company where that law is on its list (Art. 4(1)Regulation (EU) 2019/1020, Market Surveillance RegulationArticle 4, paragraph 1Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 4(5)Regulation (EU) 2019/1020, Market Surveillance RegulationArticle 4, paragraph 5Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). Who is allowed to hold that role, what it owes and what drives its price is the EU Responsible Person.

If the result says GPSR reaches you, what you owe next depends on which role you hold for that product. That is the next page: what GPSR requires of you, by role sorts you into manufacturerArt. 3(8)any natural or legal person who manufactures a product or has a product designed or manufactured, and markets that product under that person’s name or trademarkClick the term for the full definition, importerArt. 3(10)any natural or legal person established within the Union who places a product from a third country on the Union marketClick the term for the full definition, distributorArt. 3(11)any natural or legal person in the supply chain, other than the manufacturer or the importer, who makes a product available on the marketClick the term for the full definition or fulfilment service providerArt. 3(12)any natural or legal person offering, in the course of commercial activity, at least two of the following services: warehousing, packaging, addressing and dispatching, without having ownership of the products involved ...Click the term for the full definition, and gives each one its duties.

When GPSR does not reach you

Nine categories sit outside GPSR altogether. Art. 2(2)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 2, paragraph 2Click opens the article on EUR-Lex. takes out, point by point: medicinal products for human or veterinary use (a); food (b); feed (c); living plants and animals, genetically modified organisms and genetically modified microorganisms in contained use, and products of plants and animals relating directly to their future reproduction (d); animal by-products and derived products (e); plant protection products (f); equipment on which consumers ride or travel where a service provider operates it directly and the consumers do not (g); the aircraft named in Article 2(3), point (d) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1139 (h); and antiquesArt. 3(28)products, such as collectors’ items or works of art, in relation to which consumers cannot reasonably expect that they fulfil state-of-the-art safety standardsClick the term for the full definition (i). The list is closed. If what you sell is not one of those nine, this way out is shut to you.

Sector law pushes GPSR aside, but only as far as it reaches. Where a product is subject to specific safety requirements imposed by EU law, GPSR covers only the aspects and risks those requirements leave open (Art. 2(1)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 2, paragraph 1Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). For a product under Union harmonisation legislationArt. 3(27)Union legislation listed in Annex I to Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 and any other Union legislation harmonising the conditions for the marketing of products to which that Regulation appliesClick the term for the full definition, more falls away than that: Chapter IIa (emergency procedures), Chapter III Section 1, Chapters V and VII, and Chapters IX to XI do not apply at all (Art. 2(1)(b)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 2, paragraph 1, point (b)Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). That is not a free pass. The online offer information, accident notification, the marketplace rules, the Safety Gate and the recall notice and remedies still reach the product (Art. 19Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 19Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 20Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 20Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 22Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 22Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 25Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 25Click opens the article on EUR-Lex. to Art. 27Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 27Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 35Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 35Click opens the article on EUR-Lex. to Art. 37Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 37Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.); accidents, marketplaces and recalls as far as the sector law has no rule with the same objective (Art. 2(1)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 2, paragraph 1Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., first subparagraph; recital 8). What switches off is replaced by whatever the sector law itself requires, and the EU company by Art. 4(1)Regulation (EU) 2019/1020, Market Surveillance RegulationArticle 4, paragraph 1Click opens the article on EUR-Lex. of Regulation (EU) 2019/1020Regulation (EU) 2019/1020, Market Surveillance RegulationThe whole regulationClick opens the law on the EU Publications Office. where that law is on its Art. 4(5)Regulation (EU) 2019/1020, Market Surveillance RegulationArticle 4, paragraph 5Click opens the article on EUR-Lex. list.

Used is not a way out. GPSR applies whether a product is new, used, repaired or reconditioned (Art. 2(3)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 2, paragraph 3Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). The one exception in that paragraph is a product put on the market to be repaired or reconditioned before it is used, and clearly marked as such (Art. 2(3)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 2, paragraph 3Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). Antiques are excluded separately and on their own terms (Art. 2(2)(i)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 2, paragraph 2, point (i)Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.), not as part of that exception, and antiquesArt. 3(28)products, such as collectors’ items or works of art, in relation to which consumers cannot reasonably expect that they fulfil state-of-the-art safety standardsClick the term for the full definition is a legal definition rather than an age: products for which consumers cannot reasonably expect state-of-the-art safety standards (Art. 3(28)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 3, point 28Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.).

The same scope question worked through in prose, rather than as a tool: does GPSR apply to me.

Where each GPSR question is answered

GPSR breaks into eleven questions for a business. Each one has its own page. Start with the question that matches your situation; the others follow from it in the order they are listed here.

  • What GPSR requires of you, by role

    Which of the four roles you hold for a product - maker, importer, seller, warehouse - and what that role owes. The own-brand trap that turns a reseller into a manufacturer is set out with it.

    Art. 3(8)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 3, point 8Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 3(10)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 3, point 10Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 3(11)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 3, point 11Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 3(12)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 3, point 12Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 9Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 9Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 11Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 11Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 12Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 12Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 13Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 13Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.

  • EU Responsible Person: who can be one, and what it costs

    Who is allowed to be one, what the role owes, and what drives the price.

    Art. 16Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 16Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 19(b)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 19, point (b)Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 20(4)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 20, paragraph 4Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 22(9)(b)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 22, paragraph 9, point (b)Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.

  • EU Authorised Representative, Responsible Person, GDPR representative

    Which of the three a marketplace is really after, and why an authorised representative is one way of being the responsible person rather than an alternative to it.

    Art. 3(9)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 3, point 9Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 10Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 10Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 16Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 16Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.

  • What must be on and with the product

    Three places, each required on its own: the GPSR label on the product, the EU user manual requirements for what travels with it, and the picture and details the listing has to show.

    Art. 9(5)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 9, paragraph 5Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 9(6)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 9, paragraph 6Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 9(7)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 9, paragraph 7Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 11(3)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 11, paragraph 3Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 11(4)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 11, paragraph 4Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 16(3)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 16, paragraph 3Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 19Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 19Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 21Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 21Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.

  • The technical file and the risk assessment

    What you have to write down before a product goes on the market, who keeps it for ten years, and what the standards presumption lets you leave out.

    Art. 6Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 6Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 7Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 7Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 8Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 8Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 9(2)(3)(4)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 9, paragraphs 2, 3 and 4Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 11(6)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 11, paragraph 6Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 15Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 15Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.

  • There is no GPSR certificate

    There is no GPSR certificate, no registration and no mark; what the ask really means, and what document answers it.

    Art. 2(1)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 2, paragraph 1Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 3(27)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 3, point 27Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 7Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 7Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.

  • A product of yours turns out to be dangerous

    Who you notify, how you reach the buyers, what the recall notice has to say word for word, and what remedy you owe. Reporting an accident and running the recall itself are both answered there.

    Art. 9(8)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 9, paragraph 8Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 11(8)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 11, paragraph 8Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 12(4)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 12, paragraph 4Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 20Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 20Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 26Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 26Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 35Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 35Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 36Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 36Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 37Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 37Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.

  • The Safety Gate and the Safety Business Gateway

    Which portal is which, what you file in it, and what gets published.

    Art. 20Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 20Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 22Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 22Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 25Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 25Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 26Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 26Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 27Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 27Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 33Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 33Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 34Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 34Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.

  • The marketplaces are demanding GPSR fields

    The marketplace has to build the field, you have to fill it, and the same field has three names: Responsible Person on Amazon, Economic Operator on Etsy and EU responsible person on eBay. On your own store the page itself has to carry the details: GPSR on Shopify.

    Art. 4Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 4Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 16(3)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 16, paragraph 3Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 19Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 19Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 22(9)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 22, paragraph 9Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 22(10)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 22, paragraph 10Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 22(11)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 22, paragraph 11Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.

  • Second-hand, vintage, antique, handmade

    The three routes out of GPSR, and why second-hand and handmade are not among them.

    Art. 2(2)(i)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 2, paragraph 2, point (i)Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 2(3)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 2, paragraph 3Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 3(28)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 3, point 28Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 13Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 13Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.,

    Art. 51Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 51Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.

  • GPSR fines, and what else happens if you do nothing

    What each country sets as a penalty, what delisting costs, and when winding down is the honest answer.

    Art. 44Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 44Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 22(4)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 22, paragraph 4Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 22(9)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 22, paragraph 9Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 22(11)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 22, paragraph 11Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 23Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 23Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 24Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 24Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.

What happens if it reaches you and you do nothing

GPSR sets no fine of its own. Each EU country lays down the rules on penalties for breaches of this Regulation and takes the measures needed to put them into effect; all the Regulation itself asks is that those penalties be effective, proportionate and dissuasive (Art. 44Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 44Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). So the figure that could reach you is national, and it is set where you sell rather than where you are.

The other consequence arrives through the channel rather than the courts. An provider of an online marketplaceArt. 3(14)a provider of an intermediary service using an online interface which allows consumers to conclude distance contracts with traders for the sale of productsClick the term for the full definition has to design its interface so that traders can supply the product-safety information for each offer, and has to make that information easy for consumers to reach on the listing (Art. 22(9)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 22, paragraph 9Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). It must also suspend, for a reasonable period and after a prior warning, the services it gives to traders that frequently offer products which do not comply (Art. 22(11)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 22, paragraph 11Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.).

What each country actually sets, what a delisting costs, and when winding down is the honest answer, is the eleventh question in the list above: gpsr fines. For Germany, the authority and the fine list are on German Product Safety Act (ProdSG). For France, the authority, the fines and the RappelConso declaration are on France product safety (DGCCRF). For Great Britain, see UK product safety regulations. For Italy, the authority, the language rule and the fines are on Italy product safety (MIMIT). For Spain, the authorities, the fines, the Castilian rule and the SOIVRE import check are on Spain product safety (Consumo).

What you can skip

For the wider set of obligations a business selling into the EU carries outside product safety - customs, VAT, consumer rights and the rest - see sell into the EU.

How the Regulation defines its terms

Eleven legal words carry the weight of GPSR, and each one is printed below exactly as Article 3Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 3Click opens the article on EUR-Lex. writes it. The Regulation decides what the term means.

product

Art. 3(1), Regulation (EU) 2023/988 — read the Regulation

(1) ‘product’ means any item, whether or not it is interconnected to other items, supplied or made available, whether for consideration or not, including in the context of providing a service, which is intended for consumers or is likely, under reasonably foreseeable conditions, to be used by consumers even if not intended for them;

In plain wordsIf consumers are meant to use it, or are likely to, it counts. Who you sold it to does not decide this.

making available on the market

Art. 3(6), Regulation (EU) 2023/988 — read the Regulation

(6) ‘making available on the market’ means any supply of a product for distribution, consumption or use on the Union market in the course of a commercial activity, whether in return for payment or free of charge;

In plain wordsAny supply of the product into the EU market in the course of business. Free samples count.

placing on the market

Art. 3(7), Regulation (EU) 2023/988 — read the Regulation

(7) ‘placing on the market’ means the first making available of a product on the Union market;

In plain wordsThe first time that product reaches the EU market. It happens once.

manufacturer

Art. 3(8), Regulation (EU) 2023/988 — read the Regulation

(8) ‘manufacturer’ means any natural or legal person who manufactures a product or has a product designed or manufactured, and markets that product under that person’s name or trademark;

In plain wordsYou made it, or you had it made and put your own name or brand on it. Your brand on someone else’s product makes you this.

importer

Art. 3(10), Regulation (EU) 2023/988 — read the Regulation

(10) ‘importer’ means any natural or legal person established within the Union who places a product from a third country on the Union market;

In plain wordsYou are established in the EU and you bring a product in from outside it.

distributor

Art. 3(11), Regulation (EU) 2023/988 — read the Regulation

(11) ‘distributor’ means any natural or legal person in the supply chain, other than the manufacturer or the importer, who makes a product available on the market;

In plain wordsYou sell it on, and you are neither the maker nor the importer.

fulfilment service provider

Art. 3(12), Regulation (EU) 2023/988 — read the Regulation

(12) ‘fulfilment service provider’ means any natural or legal person offering, in the course of commercial activity, at least two of the following services: warehousing, packaging, addressing and dispatching, without having ownership of the products involved, excluding postal services as defined in Article 2, point (1) of Directive 97/67/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (27), parcel delivery services as defined in Article 2, point (2) of Regulation (EU) 2018/644 of the European Parliament and of the Council (28), and any other postal services or freight transport services;

In plain wordsYou hold and ship other businesses’ stock without owning it. Two of those four services is enough. Plain post and parcel delivery are out.

economic operator

Art. 3(13), Regulation (EU) 2023/988 — read the Regulation

(13) ‘economic operator’ means the manufacturer, the authorised representative, the importer, the distributor, the fulfilment service provider or any other natural or legal person who is subject to obligations in relation to the manufacture of products or making them available on the market in accordance with this Regulation;

In plain wordsThe umbrella word for every business role this Regulation puts duties on.

provider of an online marketplace

Art. 3(14), Regulation (EU) 2023/988 — read the Regulation

(14) ‘provider of an online marketplace’ means a provider of an intermediary service using an online interface which allows consumers to conclude distance contracts with traders for the sale of products;

In plain wordsThe platform itself, not the shops on it. Amazon, Etsy and eBay are the provider; you are the trader selling there.

Union harmonisation legislation

Art. 3(27), Regulation (EU) 2023/988 — read the Regulation

(27) ‘Union harmonisation legislation’ means Union legislation listed in Annex I to Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 and any other Union legislation harmonising the conditions for the marketing of products to which that Regulation applies;

In plain wordsThe EU’s product-specific laws — toys, electricals, machinery and the rest. Where one covers your product, named parts of GPSR step aside.

antiques

Art. 3(28), Regulation (EU) 2023/988 — read the Regulation

(28) ‘antiques’ means products, such as collectors’ items or works of art, in relation to which consumers cannot reasonably expect that they fulfil state-of-the-art safety standards.

In plain wordsNot about age. It is about what a buyer can reasonably expect: nobody expects a 1920s toy to meet today’s safety standards.

What turns on your own product and your own country

  • Whether Union harmonisation legislation covers your particular product. Union harmonisation legislation is the EU legislation listed in Annex I to Regulation (EU) 2019/1020Regulation (EU) 2019/1020, Market Surveillance RegulationThe whole regulationClick opens the law on the EU Publications Office., plus any other EU legislation harmonising the marketing conditions of the products that Regulation covers (Art. 3(27)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 3, point 27Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). Those are the sector safety acts for whole product families - toys, machinery, electrical equipment, personal protective equipment and the rest. If one of them names your product, the GPSR chapters listed above fall away for it and the sector act carries the safety rules instead (Art. 2(1)(b)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 2, paragraph 1, point (b)Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). If none of them does, GPSR applies to it in full.
  • National penalty rules under Article 44. The Regulation asks for penalties that are effective, proportionate and dissuasive and leaves the figures to each EU country (Art. 44Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 44Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). The figure that can reach you is the one set by the country you sell into, and it is not the same in any two of them.

Sources

21 sources
  1. Art. 1Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 1Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., 50Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 50Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., 51Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 51Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., 52Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 52Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.Regulation (EU) 2023/988 - objective, subject matter, entry into force and application, repeal and transitional provision
  2. Art. 2Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 2Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.Regulation (EU) 2023/988, consolidated text of 29 May 2026 - scope, sector-law displacement (Art. 2(1)(b) lists Chapter IIa, added by Regulation (EU) 2024/2748 from 29 May 2026), exclusions, new/used/repaired/reconditioned products
  3. Recital 8Regulation (EU) 2023/988 - recital 8: the provisions on online marketplaces, accidents, information and remedies for consumers and recalls apply to products under Union harmonisation legislation "to the extent that there are no specific provisions with the same objective" in that legislation; the Safety Gate provisions apply to them
  4. Art. 4(1)Regulation (EU) 2019/1020, Market Surveillance RegulationArticle 4, paragraph 1Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., 4(5)Regulation (EU) 2019/1020, Market Surveillance RegulationArticle 4, paragraph 5Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.Regulation (EU) 2019/1020, consolidated text of 12 August 2026 - the EU-established economic operator for products under the acts listed in its Art. 4(5)
  5. Art. 3Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 3Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.Regulation (EU) 2023/988 - definitions, including making available, placing on the market, and every operator role
  6. Art. 4Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 4Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.Regulation (EU) 2023/988 - distance sales: an offer targeted at EU consumers is making available on the market
  7. Art. 5Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 5Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.Regulation (EU) 2023/988 - the general safety requirement everything else hangs off
  8. Art. 9Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 9Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.Regulation (EU) 2023/988 - obligations of manufacturers
  9. Art. 11Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 11Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.Regulation (EU) 2023/988 - obligations of importers
  10. Art. 12Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 12Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.Regulation (EU) 2023/988 - obligations of distributors
  11. Art. 13Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 13Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.Regulation (EU) 2023/988 - cases in which the obligations of manufacturers apply to other persons
  12. Art. 16Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 16Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.Regulation (EU) 2023/988 - responsible person for products placed on the Union market
  13. Art. 19Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 19Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.Regulation (EU) 2023/988 - obligations of economic operators in the case of distance sales
  14. Art. 20Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 20Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.Regulation (EU) 2023/988 - obligations of economic operators in the case of accidents related to product safety
  15. Art. 22Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 22Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.Regulation (EU) 2023/988 - specific obligations of providers of online marketplaces
  16. Art. 23Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 23Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.Regulation (EU) 2023/988 - market surveillance: the powers of Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 apply to GPSR products
  17. Enforcement statistics, not lawEuropean Commission, "Increased action against dangerous products in the EU in 2025": 4,671 Safety Gate alerts, the highest level on record. Accessed 2026-10-05
  18. UK government guidance, not EU lawUK government, General Product Safety Regulations: Northern Ireland - GPSR applies in Northern Ireland; the 2005 Regulations continue to apply in Great Britain. Accessed 2026-10-05
  19. EFTA register, for information onlyEFTA, EEA-Lex factsheet for Regulation (EU) 2023/988: under scrutiny for incorporation into the EEA Agreement by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. Accessed 2026-09-30
  20. EFTA register, for information onlyEFTA, EEA-Lex factsheet for Directive 2001/95/EC: incorporated into the EEA Agreement, in force in the EEA. Accessed 2026-09-30
  21. Art. 44Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 44Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.Regulation (EU) 2023/988 - penalties: set by each EU country, effective, proportionate and dissuasive