Product safety in online shops: what the GPSR requires

Which rule applies, and since when

Regulation (EU) 2023/988 on general product safety, often called GPSR, applies from 13 December 2024 (Article 52). As a regulation it applies directly in every Member State. It covers products that are placed or made available on the market, whether new, used, repaired or reconditioned (Article 2(3)). It does not apply to medicinal products, food, feed, living plants and animals, plant protection products and antiques, among others (Article 2(2)). Where other EU law sets specific safety requirements for a product, the GPSR covers the aspects and risks that those rules do not cover (Article 2(1)).

Products offered online count as made available on the market if the offer is targeted at consumers in the EU, that is, if the trader directs its activities to one or more Member States by any means (Article 4). Products placed on the market before 13 December 2024 in line with the old Directive 2001/95/EC may still be sold (Article 51). The guide ‘Deadline calendar: EU rules for your website’ lists this date together with other EU dates.

The four details in every online offer

Article 19: where economic operators make products available online or through other distance sales, the offer has to indicate clearly and visibly at least:

• (a) the name, registered trade name or registered trade mark of the manufacturer, and the postal and electronic address at which the manufacturer can be contacted;
• (b) if the manufacturer is not established in the EU, the name, postal and electronic address of the responsible person;
• (c) information that identifies the product, including a picture of it, its type and any other product identifier;
• (d) any warning or safety information that has to be on the product, on its packaging or in an accompanying document, in a language consumers can easily understand, as determined by the Member State where the product is sold.

The details belong to the offer itself. For online marketplaces Article 22(9) says it directly: the interface must let traders provide the four details for each product, displayed or easily accessible on the product listing. The German text of Article 19 says ‘E-Mail-Adresse’ where the English text says ‘electronic address’.

The responsible person in the EU

Article 16(1): a product covered by the GPSR may only be placed on the market if an economic operator established in the EU is responsible for the tasks in Article 4(3) of Regulation (EU) 2019/1020. These tasks include giving market surveillance authorities information and documents on request, informing them when there is reason to believe that a product presents a risk, and cooperating on corrective action. Article 4(2) of that regulation names who this can be:

In practice: if you buy goods from a manufacturer outside the EU, ask before listing who the responsible person is, and get their name, postal address and email address. If you import the goods yourself, point (b) can apply to you as the importer.

Where the details come from

You do not have to invent the details for the shop. The GPSR already requires them on the product. Manufacturers make sure that the product bears a type, batch or serial number or another identifier. They put their name and their postal and electronic address on the product or, where that is not possible, on the packaging or in an accompanying document, and they add clear instructions and safety information in a language set by the Member State (Article 9(5) to (7)). Importers add their own name and addresses (Article 11(3)). Distributors check these details before they make a product available (Article 12(1)).

A shop can therefore take the details from the product, the packaging or the supplier’s data and show them on the product page. Which language a Member State sets for warnings is a matter of national law, which this guide does not cover.

Checklist for each product page

• Manufacturer: name or trade mark, postal address and email address, visible on the page.
• Manufacturer outside the EU: name, postal address and email address of the responsible person in the EU.
• At least one picture of the product and its type or model.
• Other identifiers such as batch number, serial number or GTIN, where you have them.
• Warnings and safety information as on the product or packaging, in the language of your customers.
• The details stand in the offer itself and are easy to find, for example in a fixed section.

A fixed block on every product page makes the details easy to find and to check. Replace the parts in square brackets and leave out the responsible person if the manufacturer is established in the EU:

Product safety information
Manufacturer: [name or trade mark]
Address: [street, postcode, town, country]
Email: [email address]
Responsible person in the EU: [name, postal address, email address]
Product: [type or model], [batch or serial number], [GTIN]
Warnings: [text as on the product or packaging]

Work with Do4U

The Product page check (GPSR) reads the address of a product page or HTML or text you paste. The code looks for candidates: the manufacturer with name, postal address and email, the responsible person in the EU, brand, type, model, batch or serial number, GTIN, pictures, structured data and warnings. The AI assigns them to the points of Article 19. Every point shows its status, a word-for-word quote from your page, the reason and a tip. The tool sees one page. It does not see details in a PDF, a data sheet or on another page, and it cannot tell whether the details are correct.

Do4U finds hints. You check them against the product and the supplier’s data and decide what to change.