Know the obligations of manufacturers under the GPSR

REGULATION (EU) 2023/988

Know the obligations of manufacturers under the GPSR

The General Product Safety Regulation (EU) 2023/988 (GPSR) is the new European legislation regulating the safety of consumer products in EU, with the aim of ensuring a high level of protection of consumer health and safety, while also ensuring the efficient functioning of the internal market.

If you are a manufacturer, i.e., any natural or legal person who manufactures a product or has a product designed or manufactured, who markets that product under that person’s name or trademark in European Union, you should be aware of the new obligations and updates.

In this newsletter, you will find a brief description of these new obligations.

• Technical documentation of products: This should be based on an internal risk analysis indicating a general description of the product and the elements necessary to assess its safety. The list of the relevant European standards or other considerations should also be indicated.
• Technical documentation shall be kept for a period of 10 years.
• Product documentation must be made available to the market surveillance authorities upon request.
• Products produced in a series must all comply with the general safety requirement.
• Marking requirements (easily visible and legible for consumers on the product or its packaging or documents accompanying the product) is required. The mandatory information is:
  • Manufacturer name, their registered trade name or registered trade mark.
  • Postal and electronic address.
  • Type, batch or serial number, or other element enabling the identification of the product.
• Clear instructions and safety information in a language that the local consumer can understand.
• If a product is dangerous, manufacturers must inform all economy operators in the supply chain and the authorities (through Safety Business Gateway) and take corrective measures.
• Manufacturers shall make publicly available communication channels (telephone, electronic address or a section of their website) available for consumers to submit complaints and inform manufacturers of any accidents or safety issues they have experienced regarding a product.
• An internal register of complaints must be set up.

It is important to note that data associated with complaints should only be kept as long as is necessary for the purposes of the investigation and in any event no longer than five years after the data have been entered. Personal data processing should be carried out in accordance with European Union law on the protection of personal data. 

Until 13 December 2024, you have time to update your obligations.