GPSR

The General Product Safety Regulation modernises EU consumer-product safety rules and, crucially, makes them directly applicable in every member state without each country writing its own transposing law. It applies to consumer products that do not fall under more specific safety legislation, acting as the safety baseline for everything from toys-adjacent goods and homeware to apparel and gadgets.

Under the GPSR, only safe products may be placed on the market. Manufacturers must carry out an internal risk analysis, keep technical documentation, and ensure products carry information that lets consumers assess and guard against risks. Importers and distributors have their own duties to verify that the products they handle are compliant before selling them.

A central change is the requirement for a Responsible Person established in the EU. No product may be sold to EU consumers unless there is an economic operator inside the EU — a manufacturer, importer, authorised representative, or fulfilment service provider — who is accountable for safety tasks and whose contact details accompany the product.

For non-EU sellers, the Responsible Person requirement is the part of the GPSR that most often blocks listings. If you manufacture or ship from outside the EU, you cannot legally sell a consumer product to EU buyers unless an EU-based party takes on the Responsible Person role for that product.

The Responsible Person verifies that technical documentation exists, keeps a declaration or relevant paperwork available to authorities, cooperates with market-surveillance bodies, and acts if a product is found to be unsafe. Their name, registered trade name or trademark, postal address and an electronic contact must be on the product, its packaging, an accompanying document, or the parcel.

Sellers without an EU entity typically appoint an authorised representative, work through an EU importer, or rely on a compliant fulfilment service provider that can act in this capacity. Marketplaces increasingly ask you to enter and prove these Responsible Person details before a listing can go live.

The GPSR explicitly addresses distance and online selling. Product listings shown to EU consumers must display key safety information up front — including the manufacturer and Responsible Person details, product identifiers, and any warnings — so a buyer can see who is accountable before purchasing.

Online marketplaces have their own obligations under the regulation, including registering with the EU Safety Gate portal, cooperating on recalls, and being able to act quickly on dangerous-product notices. To meet these duties, marketplaces pass compliance gates down to sellers and request documentation, which is why GPSR fields now appear in seller onboarding flows.