On May 23, 2023, the European Union (EU) published the new Regulation (EU) 2023/988 on General Product Safety (GPSR) in the Official Journal of the European Union, repealing the current General Product Safety Directive 87/357/EEC and the Food Imitating Product Directive 2001/95/EC.
Moving from a directive to a common regulation, uniformly applicable across all Member States, offers significant advantages in ensuring the safety of consumer products throughout the European Union.
The GPSR modernises the EU general product safety framework and address the new challenges posed to product safety by the digitalisation of economies, aiming to strengthen the protection of consumers while enhancing the functioning of the EU internal market. It will enter into force on June 12, 2023, with a transitional period of 18 months. From December 13, 2024, it shall be fully enforced in all EU Member States.
The GPSR applies to non-food products (for which there is no specific directive or regulation) and to all sales channels, providing a safety net for products or risks not regulated in other EU legislation. It requires that all consumer products on the EU markets are safe and it establishes specific obligations for businesses to ensure it.
Some key changes under GPSR include the following:
- The new GPSR repeals and replaces the EU Food Imitation Safety Directive 87/357, proihibiting the marketing, importation, manufacturing, and exportation of non-food products that resemble or could be regarded as foodstuff, especially by children, and could be potentially placed in their mouths, sucked, or ingested. Such actions could result in serious risks such as suffocation, digestive tract obstruction, or poisoning. Examples of these products include candles, shower gel, and detergents. In accordance with the GPSR, these products will be classified as “dangerous,” and may not be placed on, or made available in the EU market.
- Specific product safety obligations for both economic operators and providers of online marketplaces
- All products placed on the EU market that fall under GPSR must have an “internal risk analysis” and an up-to-date technical file “containing at least a general description of the product and its essential characteristics relevant for assessing its safety.”
- Companies that are not economic operators within the EU must establish a responsible person in the EU to import products.
- Increased traceability requirements may apply to certain products, groups, or categories of products and relevant supply chains that are “likely to present a serious risk to health and safety of consumers.”
- Manufacturers with reason to believe a product they have on the market is dangerous must take immediate corrective actions, inform consumers and market surveillance authorities.
- Specific rules on how to handle product safety recalls, including a mandatory recall notice template, and right to remedy for consumers.
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