Sell into the EU: the compliance requirements, and which ones do not apply to you

The rules that can bind you fall into five groups: the safety and conformity of the product itself, packaging and end-of-life, tax and customs, data protection and platform rules, and sector regimes for things like cosmetics, medical devices and food. A business shipping one unregulated homeware item into one country touches a handful. A business shipping electronics into six countries touches most of them.

There is no EU-wide seller registration. No one number or licence makes you compliant across the Union. Anyone selling you one is selling you a bundle of separate national registrations under a single invoice.

Which obligations can bind you, regime by regime

Every regime below can bind a business selling into the EU from outside it. Each row names the act, when it applies and the articles it rests on. To start from what happened to you instead, a blocked listing, a recall or a fine, use the guides grouped by problem.

Product safety and conformity

Rules about the product itself: whether it is safe, whether it carries the right marks, and who inside the Union answers for it.

Packaging and environment

Rules about what the product is wrapped in, what it is made of and how its supply chain produced it, and what happens to it at the end of its life. These are the ones most often registered per country rather than once for the whole Union.

The filing under the deforestation rule is the EUDR due diligence statement: the operator submits it electronically before placing a listed product on the market or exporting it, and by doing so takes responsibility for the product complying with Art. 3 (Art. 4(2)Regulation (EU) 2023/1115, EU Deforestation Regulation (consolidated text of 18 September 2026)Article 4, paragraph 2Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 4(3)Regulation (EU) 2023/1115, EU Deforestation Regulation (consolidated text of 18 September 2026)Article 4, paragraph 3Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). A downstream operator or trader files no statement: it keeps its supplier details (Art. 5(3)Regulation (EU) 2023/1115, EU Deforestation Regulation (consolidated text of 18 September 2026)Article 5, paragraph 3Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.), and one that is not an SME registers in the information system first (Art. 5(2)Regulation (EU) 2023/1115, EU Deforestation Regulation (consolidated text of 18 September 2026)Article 5, paragraph 2Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). The Regulation applies from 30 December 2026, and from 30 June 2027 to an operator that is a natural person or a micro or small undertaking established as such by 31 December 2024, except for the timber products already under the EU Timber Regulation (Art. 38(2)Regulation (EU) 2023/1115, EU Deforestation Regulation (consolidated text of 18 September 2026)Article 38, paragraph 2Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 38(3)Regulation (EU) 2023/1115, EU Deforestation Regulation (consolidated text of 18 September 2026)Article 38, paragraph 3Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.).

To check one substance against the REACH Candidate List of substances of very high concern, use the SVHC list.

Tax and customs

Rules about the money and the border. Several of these are registrations you complete once and then report against, and the reporting is where businesses get caught out rather than the registration.

Eight guides cover the border itself. Customs knows you by an EORI number, and apply for an EORI number says how to get one from outside the EU, and the EORI number check shows whether a number is valid. The VIES VAT number check does the same for an EU VAT number, and EU VAT rates by country lists the rate of each country. The HS code is the six-digit start of every tariff code, the CN code adds the EU's two digits, and the TARIC code is the ten digits EU customs reads; the HS code lookup finds where a code sits in that list, and the landed cost calculator works out the duty and import VAT on a shipment. A certificate of origin is the proof a lower duty can need. DDP shipping to Europe decides who pays the duty and import VAT at the door. CBAM puts a carbon price on imported iron and steel, aluminium, cement, fertilisers, hydrogen and electricity. A UK seller follows export from UK to EU.

Data and platform rules

Rules that follow from handling EU customers and from selling through somebody else. These bind the business, not the product, so they can apply even when nothing you sell is regulated.

Sector-specific regimes

Where a product falls into one of these, the sector rules generally take over from the general ones. That is why knowing which sector you are in is worth more than knowing any single rule.

Whether any of this applies to you

Start with product safety, because it reaches the widest. Does GPSR apply to me walks through whether it binds you and which of its duties fall away. GPSR: what it is, and who it reaches sets out what each role in the chain owes once it does bind you. And the EU Responsible Person covers the one duty nobody outside the Union can discharge themselves.

On your own Shopify store you are the seller, so the distance-sales rule binds you directly: each offer shows the manufacturer's name and postal and electronic address, the responsible person where the manufacturer is not EU-based, the product's identification (a picture, its type and any other identifier) and any warning or safety information in a language consumers there easily understand (Art. 19Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 19Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). GPSR on Shopify says where on the product page they go.

For packaging, the registration test is in PPWR: what Regulation (EU) 2025/40 asks of you now.

Which EU representative you may need

The EU Responsible Person above is one of several roles that carry the word "representative". Each regime asks for its own. Which of the three roles you are being asked for sorts out what a marketplace means by it.

• Cosmetics: a cosmetic product may be placed on the EU market only if a person based in the EU is designated as its responsible person (Art. 4(1)Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009, Cosmetic Products RegulationArticle 4, paragraph 1Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). For a product made outside the EU the importer is the responsible person and may hand the role, by written mandate accepted in writing, to a person established in the EU (Art. 4(5)Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009, Cosmetic Products RegulationArticle 4, paragraph 5Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.); a non-EU manufacturer of an EU-made product designates one the same way (Art. 4(4)Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009, Cosmetic Products RegulationArticle 4, paragraph 4Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). The name and address go on the container and the packaging (Art. 19(1)Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009, Cosmetic Products RegulationArticle 19, paragraph 1Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., point (a)). It is not the GPSR responsible person: GPSR Art. 16Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 16Click opens the article on EUR-Lex. does not apply to a cosmetic (Art. 2(1)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 2, paragraph 1Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., point (b)). What it answers for: the EU Cosmetics Responsible Person.
• Packaging, electrical equipment, batteries and textiles: a seller established in another EU country that sells directly to end users appoints an authorised representative in each country it sells into for packaging, electrical equipment and, once that country's rules apply, textiles (Art. 45(3)Regulation (EU) 2025/40, Packaging and Packaging Waste RegulationArticle 45, paragraph 3Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 17(2)Directive 2012/19/EU, Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment DirectiveArticle 17, paragraph 2Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 22a(3)Directive 2008/98/EC on waste, as amended by Directive (EU) 2025/1892 (textiles and footwear)Article 22a, paragraph 3Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.); for batteries every distance seller does, from inside the EU or outside it (Art. 56(3)Regulation (EU) 2023/1542, Batteries RegulationArticle 56, paragraph 3Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). From outside the EU, packaging and textiles are left to each country (Art. 45(3)Regulation (EU) 2025/40, Packaging and Packaging Waste RegulationArticle 45, paragraph 3Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 22a(3)Directive 2008/98/EC on waste, as amended by Directive (EU) 2025/1892 (textiles and footwear)Article 22a, paragraph 3Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.); for electrical equipment the Directive's own duty binds only a seller established in the EU (Art. 17(2)Directive 2012/19/EU, Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment DirectiveArticle 17, paragraph 2Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). Who, where and for which goods: the EPR authorised representative.
• VAT: EU law does not itself require a fiscal representative. It lets each EU country allow one, and require one of a business established in a country with no mutual assistance instrument similar to Directive 76/308/EEC and Regulation (EC) No 1798/2003 (Art. 204(1)Directive 2006/112/EC, the VAT Directive (consolidated text of 14 April 2025)Article 204, paragraph 1Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). The representative is the person liable for the VAT due (Art. 204(1)Directive 2006/112/EC, the VAT Directive (consolidated text of 14 April 2025)Article 204, paragraph 1Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.), and a country may make another person jointly and severally liable for it (Art. 205Directive 2006/112/EC, the VAT Directive (consolidated text of 14 April 2025)Article 205Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). How each country uses the option: the fiscal representative for EU VAT.
• Data protection: a business with no establishment in the EU that offers goods to people there designates a representative in writing, in one of the countries where those people are (Art. 3(2)Regulation (EU) 2016/679, General Data Protection RegulationArticle 3, paragraph 2Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 27(1)Regulation (EU) 2016/679, General Data Protection RegulationArticle 27, paragraph 1Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 27(3)Regulation (EU) 2016/679, General Data Protection RegulationArticle 27, paragraph 3Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.), unless its processing is occasional, includes no large-scale sensitive or criminal-record data and is unlikely to put people at risk (Art. 27(2)Regulation (EU) 2016/679, General Data Protection RegulationArticle 27, paragraph 2Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). It has nothing to do with the GPSR responsible person: the GDPR representative.

What counts as selling into the EU

You do not need a warehouse, a subsidiary or an EU bank account to be inside the scope of these rules. Under GPSR the trigger is making a product available on the EU market, and a product offered online to consumers in the Union counts as available there, wherever you and your stock sit (Art. 4Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 4Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.).

The practical tests are the ones you would expect: whether your shop takes orders from EU addresses, whether prices show in euro or a member-state currency, whether you ship there, and whether a marketplace lists you to EU buyers. Being reachable is not the same as targeting, and the line between them is decided on the facts of the offer.

Do not read the GPSR test as the test for VAT, for packaging or for data protection. Each of those draws its boundary differently, and several draw it per country rather than per Union.

Which product laws sit on top of GPSR

Four product families have EU laws of their own that sellers meet most: toys, radio equipment, electrical and electronic equipment, and textiles. The first three call for the CE marking; the fourth for a fibre label.

• Toys: products designed or intended "for use in play by children under 14 years of age" (Directive 2009/48/EC, Art. 2(1)Directive 2009/48/EC, Toy Safety DirectiveArticle 2, paragraph 1Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). What they need: CE marking for toys.
• Radio equipment: a product that "intentionally emits and/or receives radio waves for the purpose of radio communication and/or radiodetermination" (Directive 2014/53/EU, Art. 2(1)Directive 2014/53/EU, Radio Equipment Directive (consolidated text of 30 May 2026)Article 2, paragraph 1Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., point (1)).
• Low-voltage electrical equipment: equipment rated "between 50 and 1 000 V for alternating current and between 75 and 1 500 V for direct current" (Directive 2014/35/EU, Art. 1Directive 2014/35/EU, Low Voltage Directive (consolidated text of 30 May 2026)Article 1Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). What it needs: Low Voltage Directive.
• Electromagnetic compatibility: almost every electronic product, at any voltage: any finished appliance "liable to generate electromagnetic disturbance, or the performance of which is liable to be affected by such disturbance" (Directive 2014/30/EU, Art. 3(1)Directive 2014/30/EU, Electromagnetic Compatibility Directive (consolidated text of 30 May 2026)Article 3, paragraph 1Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., point (2)). Radio equipment is covered by its own Directive instead. What it needs: EMC Directive.
• Hazardous substances (RoHS): electrical and electronic equipment rated up to "1 000 volts for alternating current and 1 500 volts for direct current" must keep restricted substances such as lead and cadmium below set limits (Directive 2011/65/EU, Art. 3Directive 2011/65/EU, Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS)Article 3Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., point (1), Art. 4(1)Directive 2011/65/EU, Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS)Article 4, paragraph 1Click opens the article on EUR-Lex. and Annex II).
• Energy-labelled products: for a product group with an EU energy label, such as washing machines, refrigerators, televisions and tyres, the supplier registers each model in the Commission's product database before the first unit is placed on the EU market (Regulation (EU) 2017/1369, Art. 12(1)Regulation (EU) 2017/1369, Energy Labelling Regulation (consolidated text of 1 May 2021)Article 12, paragraph 1Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). What it needs: EPREL. The label itself comes from a delegated regulation for each product group (Art. 16(1)Regulation (EU) 2017/1369, Energy Labelling Regulation (consolidated text of 1 May 2021)Article 16, paragraph 1Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.), and every online seller, as a dealer, shows it and makes the product information sheet available in distance selling too (Art. 2(13)Regulation (EU) 2017/1369, Energy Labelling Regulation (consolidated text of 1 May 2021)Article 2, point 13Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 5(1)Regulation (EU) 2017/1369, Energy Labelling Regulation (consolidated text of 1 May 2021)Article 5, paragraph 1Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.): the EU energy label. Ecodesign requirements for a product group start only once a delegated act covers it, which is on the ESPR ecodesign guide.
• Textiles: textile products, and products with at least 80% textile fibres by weight, carry a fibre-composition label in the language of the country of sale, unless that country provides otherwise (Regulation (EU) No 1007/2011, Art. 2, 14(1) and 16(3)).

What you may say about a product's environmental qualities is a consumer-law rule of its own. EU countries apply Directive (EU) 2024/825 from 27 September 2026 (Art. 4(1)Directive (EU) 2024/825, Empowering Consumers for the Green TransitionArticle 4, paragraph 1Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). It bans, in all circumstances, a sustainability label not based on a certification scheme or set by public authorities, a generic environmental claim such as "eco-friendly" without recognised excellent environmental performance, and a claim that a product has a neutral, reduced or positive greenhouse gas impact based on offsetting (Directive 2005/29/EC, Annex I, points 2a, 4a and 4c). The Green Claims Directive is a proposal that has stalled and is not law: the Green Claims Directive and what is already binding.

What the CE laws ask, and which law covers your product: CE marking. To see which law covers a product type, use what products need CE marking.

What changes for the UK

A Great Britain business selling into the EU is inside every rule on this page, like any business outside the Union. Goods sold from Northern Ireland to EU consumers follow EU VAT rules: the seller charges the VAT of the EU country the goods go to and can report it through the OSS Union scheme (UK government). Selling into the UK is different: Great Britain keeps its own General Product Safety Regulations 2005, while GPSR has applied in Northern Ireland since 13 December 2024 (UK government). Where its product rules match, the UK "continues to recognise the CE marking, alongside or in place of the UKCA marking, for the Great Britain market" (UK government).

What to keep on file

Compliance is proved from records, not from intentions, and the records are usually demanded at the worst moment - a customs hold, a marketplace listing suspension, or a market surveillance authority asking a question with a deadline attached.

At category level, expect to hold: the technical documentation and risk analysis behind the product, the identity and mandate of whoever acts for you inside the Union, your registrations and their numbers, evidence of what you reported and when, and the labelling and instructions as they actually shipped.

Retention periods differ by regime. Under GPSR the manufacturer keeps the technical documentation for 10 years after the product is placed on the market (Art. 9(3)Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 9, paragraph 3Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). Do not assume ten years is the answer everywhere.

What penalties and fees apply

Each EU country sets the penalties for breaking these rules. GPSR leaves them to the EU countries (Art. 44Regulation (EU) 2023/988, General Product Safety RegulationArticle 44Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.), and so does the packaging regulation, whose national penalty rules are due by 12 February 2027 (Art. 68Regulation (EU) 2025/40, Packaging and Packaging Waste RegulationArticle 68Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.).

What a producer pays into each country's packaging or battery scheme is set in that country. EU law sets only what those payments must cover (Art. 45(2)Regulation (EU) 2025/40, Packaging and Packaging Waste RegulationArticle 45, paragraph 2Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.; Art. 56(4)Regulation (EU) 2023/1542, Batteries RegulationArticle 56, paragraph 4Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.).

By country: what each country adds to the EU rules, on one page per country.

Who inside a company owns this

Where there is no separate function for it, this lands on the owner, because there is nobody else to hand it to. Where the company is large enough to have functions, it is usually split, and the split is where things get dropped: product safety sits with the product or quality function, tax registrations with finance, data protection with legal or IT, and marketplace account health with whoever runs the channel.

The failure is predictable. Each function assumes another one holds the obligation, and nobody holds the list. That is the argument for keeping one inventory like the tables above, owned by one named person, rather than four partial views.

How to brief a supplier or a marketplace

Most of what binds you depends on facts only your supplier holds: what the product is made of, what it contains, how it is packaged, and what documentation already exists for it. Ask for those before you ask a compliance question, because the answer changes with them.

A useful brief names the product, the exact materials and components, the intended user, every country you will ship to, and the channel. With a marketplace, ask which obligations it enforces at listing time and which it leaves entirely to you. Marketplaces publish the first list and rarely publish the second, and the second is the one that gets you.

Whatever a marketplace requires is a floor, not a ceiling. It can and does ask for more than the law does, and meeting its checklist is not the same as meeting the law.