On 13 December 2024, the new "Regulation (EU) 2023/988 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10 May 2023 on General Product Safety" ("GPSR") came into force.
The GPSR repeals the General Product Safety Directive (2001) and introduces an updated regime to ensure product safety in light of evolving technologies and means of trade. As a regulation, the GPSR is directly applicable to all EU member states without the need for national transpositions.
The GPSR generally applies to all consumer products on the EU market, whether new, used, repaired or reconditioned. It is explicitly not applicable to certain product categories regulated by higher safety standards (e.g., medicines, animal products, food and feed). The regulation introduces a new framework of obligations covering general product safety requirements, consumer information, complaints, product incident and recall management.
Key changes
The key changes, also applicable to Ukrainian businesses offering goods to EU consumers, are the following:
- The GPSR applies to products placed or made available on the EU market. The "made available on the market" also includes consumer products sold online (e.g., via online marketplaces) or via other forms of distant sales (e.g., ordered via phone, post, etc.).
- Economic operators who must comply with the GPSR are manufacturers (both EU and non-EU), importers, distributors, online retailers and the manufacturer's representatives in the EU.
- Any individual or legal entity is subject to the manufacturer's obligations under the GPSR if they (i) place the product on the EU market under their own name or trademark, or (ii) substantially modify the product.
- Each non-EU manufacturer must establish an economic operator within the EU to ensure GPSR compliance for imported products and serve as a contact point for market surveillance and incident claim management ("EU Authorized Representative").
- Online marketplace providers must comply with the GPSR by cooperating with EU market surveillance authorities (e.g., processing notices within three working days) and taking immediate mitigation actions in regard to the product deemed as non-compliant (e.g., incident management and product recall, etc.).
- The GPSR foresees specific product labeling obligations, including specific contact details of foreign manufacturers and EU Authorized Representatives.
- The penalties for the violation of the GPSR are at the discretion of each EU member state. However, deeming the initial draft proposing a maximum fine of at least a 4% annual turnover, such a fine will be high. A violation may also lead to civil damage compensation claims filed by consumers in various EU member states against all economic operators, including the ones located outside the EU.
Recommendations
Ukrainian businesses exporting consumer products to the EU are recommended to:
- Reassess and update your internal product assessment procedures, product labeling, representation in the EU and compliance with EU technical standards in light of the GPSR
- Liaise with your export supply chain partners (e.g., EU importers, distributors, online retailers) and establish a new internal process compliant with the GPSR
- Implement new procedures for internal communication strategies and consumer/authority response teams to meet all GPSR requirements for a speedy reaction to incident reports, customer complaints and requests and orders from EU market surveillance authorities
By Ario Dehghani, Counsel, Volodymyr Stetsenko, Associate, Baker McKenzie
