EU - General Product Safety Regulation (EU) 2023/988 (GPSR) Entered Into Force
The General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR), entered into force on June 12, 2023. The new rules seek to address major societal changes that have affected consumer product safety in the past two decades, such as increasing digitalization, new technological developments, and globalized supply chains. This modernized framework will ensure that only safe products are offered to consumers, regardless of the origin of the products and whether they are sold in shops or on online marketplaces.
The objective of the new General Product Safety Regulation is to ensure that all consumer products on the EU market are safe. It applies to non-food products, be they sold offline or online. The Regulation provides for a real safety net for consumers addressing safety of products or risks not regulated in other EU legislation, more specifically by:
- key elements such as the evolving nature of a product or its interconnectivity in the safety assessment of consumer products;
- improving the conditions for product safety between online and offline sales;
- establishing specific product safety requirements for online marketplaces to protect consumers against dangerous products sold via online marketplaces;
- extending the obligation for all non-harmonized products imported to the EU to have an economic operator in the EU responsible for the product safety issues;
- providing national authorities with necessary tools, thus stepping up their enforcement powers;
- ensuring effective product recalls by requiring direct contacts of consumers and standardized recall notices.
Directives 87/357/EEC and 2001/95/EC are repealed with effect from December 13, 2024.
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General Product Safety Regulation (EU) 2023/988 (GPSR) Entered Into Force