The General Product Safety Regulation came into force on December 13, 2024 and places new responsibilities on British companies exporting to the EU, European Economic Area (EEA) and Northern Ireland (NI).
William Bain, the BCC’s Head of Trade Policy, answers the key questions about the new legislation.
What does it do?
The legisliation places new requirement on certain, but not all, goods exporters in Great Britian to the EU, the EEA and NI1.
The General Product Safety Regulation was proposed by the European Commission to address safety concerns over products entering the EU2.
It is designed to deal with goods sold via online marketplaces or other distance sale means which were non-compliant with EU safety standards and risked harm to consumers.
A precautionary principle runs throughout the new obligations and processes introduced by the Regulation, alongside strong traceability of products. The legislation was first consulted upon four years ago.
Who is affected?
The headline obligation is that manufacturers or importers placing goods on the market from outside the EU, EEA or NI must have a responsible economic operator appointed within these areas.
This can either be the manufacturer, the importer, an authorised representative or a fulfilment services provider (involving two of the following – warehousing, packaging, addressing or dispatching – but not parcel, postal or freight services).
What does it mean for affected businesses?
New obligations are placed upon the manufacturers of goods offered on online marketplaces and upon the manufacturers and importers of goods offered by other means.
These require:
- The name, address and electronic address of the manufacturer.
- The name, address and electronic address of an authorised economic operator if the manufacturer is not in the EU/EEA/NI.
- Pictures of the product and details on the product type.
- Warnings and safety notifications in a language the purchasing consumer can understand.
These must also be attached to the product or on a document packaged with or accompanying the product.
There are also additional requirements for online marketplace providers, they must:
- Have in place a single point of contact for market surveillance authorities and enquiries.
- Record product and customer information.
- Use the Safety Business Gateway to report any issues.
- Report and cooperate with market surveillance authorities and other operators
- Establish internal compliance procedures.
What is covered?
The new rules will apply in principle to all products, but with the following exclusions: food, feed, medicines for human use, live plants and animals, aircraft involving low safety risks and antiques.
Product safety legislation in Great Britain is unchanged but the new EU rules will apply in Northern Ireland under the terms of the Windsor Framework3.
The Department for Business and Trade has produced new guidance in relation to the implications of the Regulations on placing goods on the market in Northern Ireland, but these were only issued just before implementation.
What are the practical steps?
Manufacturers and merchants in Great Britain must now do the following if they send goods, in affected categories, to either NI, the EU or EEA (this includes products offered via online marketplaces):
- Appoint an ‘responsible economic operator’ with an address in NI or the EU/EEA for the goods it is selling there. This is to deal with market surveillance and enforcement processes for goods in these markets.
- Conduct an internal risk analysis of the product and prepare technical documents based upon this.
- Make communication channels publicly available where consumers can make complaints, or receive safety information, about the goods.
- Investigate complaints and maintain internal records for 10 years on the outcomes of those complaints.
- Report accidents caused by the product via the Safety Business Gateway to the competent authorities of the EU/EEA state where the accident took place.
- Specify traceability requirements for certain products, categories or groups of products.
- Let affected consumers know directly about any product recall or safety alert.
- Offer a choice of two remedies including repair, replacement, or adequate refund of the goods covered by any recall.
What’s not covered by the legislation?
This legislation does not apply to products placed on the relevant market before 13 December 2024.
It does not affect goods coming from NI to GB.
What will be the impact?
For larger businesses, they are likely to be compliant with the new rules without much adjustment – many larger manufacturers and suppliers already have a responsible person nominated for other regulatory purposes.
For smaller firms or sole traders, the new obligations will be a big change and will incur additional costs or compliance burdens. They will have to hire a service provider willing to act as a responsible economic operator on their behalf in these markets.
For some SMEs and sole traders, the new rules will act as a further barrier to sending goods to NI and the EU and EEA.
What are the solutions?
Even if the UK government aligned its legislation with that of the EU, the fact that there are separate market surveillance and enforcement regimes means the issues would still exist.
But there are some steps that can be taken. Guidance needs to be simpler, more easily understandable, and better directed at small business needs.
In the future the Government must also issue guidance earlier and be more effective in communicating with small businesses about changes to allow them to prepare.
This speaks to the need for a step change on regulatory cooperation between the EU and UK, with business interests at its heart.
Firms must be told at a far earlier stage about how to mitigate the costs of regulatory change, and receive support from the Government to do so.
Footnotes
[1] European Economic Area – including the EU, and three EFTA states – Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein.
[2] Regulation (EU) 2023/988: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32023R0988 accessed on 13 December 2024.
[3] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/general-product-safety-regulations-northern-ireland/eu-regulation-2023988-on-general-product-safety-detailed-guidance#:~:text=Businesses%20should%20note%20section%207,with%20the%202005%20UK%20GPSR. accessed on 13 December 2024.
More info: https://www.britishchambers.org.uk/
