#General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR)

[freyrnigeria]

The General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR) is a regulation from the European Union that aims to safeguard consumers by establishing a standardized framework to guarantee consumers' health and safety throughout the EU.

[waveoftheocean]

black friday sale!! use the code ITSFRIDAY2024 for 10% off your order from now until dec. 1, 11:59pm PST (applies to both storefronts)!

✨ shop link for orders to the USA and Canada ✨ shop link for international orders

important shop update: after dec. 9, i will no longer be able to ship to countries in the EU and Northern Ireland due to the new General Product Safety Regulations (GPSR). i'm so sorry! if you're located there and are interested in ordering from my shop, please do so before the 9th.

✨ discord server invite link for more frequent merch/shop updates!

other update details below the cut:

new merch: ♡ tristamp roadtrip CD charms - double sided, with a rotatable cd that shows different sky backgrounds!

♡ superbat omanjuus - soft and squishy. both designs come with a squeaker inside :DD

unfortunately, i cannot ship omanjuus to countries in the EU due to their toy/plushie regulations.

♡ superbat tired dads shakers - openable, double-sided shaker with 13 shaker pieces.

preorder here regular order here (until dec. 9) the shakers have arrived, but the bird keychain clasps i wanted to attach to them have not. however, since i will not be able to ship anything to the EU/Northern Ireland after dec. 9, i wanted to make them available in some form before that cutoff date! if you order through my etsy, they will come with a silver U clasp instead of the bird clasp.

restocks: ♡ vashwood day after tomorrow CD charms

for anyone that has a current order with me, i plan to ship them out early next week. however, i'm happy to combine shipping if you want to get something else! just write your current order number and that you'd like to combine shipping in the order notes and i'll refund one of your shipping costs!

[mayakern]

Hey Maya and friends!

Have you heard of the General Product Safety Regulations (GPSR) that goes into effect in the EU on December 13th? How will this affect your ability to ship to the EU? I really hope it won't, because I love your skirts!

this won’t effect us at all!

our factory is in turkey and is way certified past what the GPSR requires and we are covered under that. GPSR also requires having an EU rep and our factory already has that bc they needed one to meet previous regulations so there won’t even be like an awkward transition period or anything because everything is already handled.

[cindylouwho-2]

The European Union's General Product Safety Regulations (GPSR): A Huge Mess For Some Small & Micro Businesses

Above is an email Amazon sent to sellers many months ago that covers the basics. Not all marketplaces were as forthcoming - or early - with info.

As many of you know, new laws coming into effect Friday December 13, 2024 affect businesses' ability to sell products into the European Union and Northern Ireland (EU and NI). The General Product Safety Regulations (GPSR) impose various requirements on most goods being sold to the EU and NI, and some of those new rules will be very onerous for some small businesses. Furthermore, there are still some unanswered questions that the relevant government bodies hadn't covered until the European Commission did release some more details and an FAQ page very recently [pdf for download at the end of the first section on that page], and until public Q & A sessions were held.

This post contains a brief summary of the GPSR and of the key questions for common small business types, with the best answers I can find at this time. There is a section discussing problems on Etsy (which hasn't yet adapted their platform to the new regulations). I also compiled a list of helpful links including government and marketplace information pages, and places to obtain an "EU Responsible Person" to represent your business.

If anything gets clarified in the near future, this post will be updated.

What Does GPSR Require?

The Amazon summary in the screenshot at the top of this post is one of the easiest to understand, but a shorter overview may work better for some, so here is what eBay has to say:

To comply with the GPSR and related regulations, all business sellers listing items for sale in the EU and NI must include the following information: 1. The product manufacturer's name and contact information 2. If the manufacturer isn’t located in the EU or NI, you’ll have to indicate an EU-based Responsible Person or entity, along with their name and contact details 3. Any relevant product information like model number, pictures, and type 4. Product safety and compliance information like warnings and safety information (which can be included in labels and product manuals) in the local language 5. The CE marking when required by the related regulations applicable to your product

And yes, all of this applies to merchants of all stripes, including small and microbusinesses. Per the EU, “...the GPSR obligations apply to businesses of all sizes. Consumers are entitled to only safe products and therefore exceptions cannot be made based on the size of a business.”

Clearly there are significant hurdles for small and micro businesses: the cost of hiring a responsible person, and the cost of producing the required safety and use instructions and of translating them into local languages. Some may choose to stop sales to the EU and NI instead of complying.

Are There Any Exceptions?

Yes, several types of products are excluded, but most of those already subject to equally strict or even stricter regulations, e.g., medicine, foods, animals etc.

The two main known exceptions of interest to most of my readership are:

Antiques, which seem to be limited to items that are old (but no age is given, as far as I can tell) and generally to art or other collectible items.

Items already available for sale before December 13 of this year.

That second point is good news for many businesses, but please note it only seems to apply to stock made before December 13, not just listings made before that date. Once you run out and need to order or make more products, they then become subject to the GPSR.

Does The GPSR Apply To Digital Products?

It now appears that the new regulations cover items such as digital downloads. The FAQ pdf put out by the European Union very recently states "[t]he GPSR applies to all types of products (physical or digital products too, including software) that are placed or made available on the EU Single Market". At least some analysts agree this can include pretty much everything digital:

I can understand why some folks think that a knitting pattern or a simple art downloadable file should not be covered, and in the future once there is more discussion of and action taken under the GPSR, those products might be excluded. But note that the pdf of FAQs also states "[t]he GPSR is about avoiding and preventing “risks to both physical health and mental health”. Including image files and similar downloads therefore makes some sense.

How Do I Find A "Responsible Person" To Represent My Digital Download Business In The EU?

That's a good question, because I haven't found any verified sources saying they will cover digital items, or any digital sellers mentioning they have found coverage. Many have been denied by the companies they have contacted. [UPDATE: A company called EAS has agreed to represent at least one digital seller.]

If you are aware of any other firms or individuals offering "Responsible Person" services for digital products, please let me know!

(Remember, If you are in the EU/NI, you are the Responsible Person. If your products are manufactured in the EU/NI, the manufacturer is the Responsible Person.)

Does the GPSR Apply To Free Products?

Yes. From the FAQ pdf: "an item provided free of charge falls within the scope of the GPSR.”

In addition to complimentary physical items ("free gifts") sent out with orders, this would seem to include free downloads provided on blogs and social media, on a Patreon site, in YouTube descriptions etc. I’ve not seen much discussion on this aspect of the law for some reason.

Items Offered For Sale Before December 13 Are Exempt, But How Would The Government Know When I First Offered The Product Or When It Was Made?

If you had 100 widgets in stock before December 13 and had them listed on a marketplace or website, by law you can continue to sell those widgets to the EU and NI until all 100 are gone. And if you created a digital file and offered it online before December 13, it should be exempt forever, as long as you do not edit the file after December 13.

But proving you had 100 widgets already made, or that you listed a specific product before the law took effect could be difficult, especially for anyone handmaking their own items. If you are going to continue to sell to the EU and NI after December 13, keep careful records of which stock needs labelling, safety information and translations of use instructions.

Online marketplaces could also create problems if they don't display the date an item was first offered for sale, as happens on Etsy, for example. Every time an item renews, the visible date is reset, and it can be difficult to go through spreadsheets looking for the original listing date, and csv files may not be adequate proof under this law (since they can easily be changed after downloading).

Unfortunately, we won't truly know what evidence will be accepted in these circumstances until the authorities start enforcing these regulations, but this will only be a concern for anyone continuing to sell "old stock" into the EU and NI after December 13, so it is far from the largest concern.

The Case of Etsy - Failure To Comply With The GPSR

Unlike some other marketplaces, Etsy was fairly late in warning its sellers that the GPSR affected them, and how Etsy will approach the law. The blog post included the line "[s]hould Etsy receive a notification from an authority that your product is non-compliant, we will take appropriate action, which may include removing your listing and/or suspending your account." So, the stakes are high here - you could lose your Etsy shop if accused of not complying with the GPSR.

There are currently 2 problems for sellers who decide they can't/won't comply with the GPSR and therefore do not want to offer their items to the EU and NI any more:

Shipping to the UK on Etsy includes Northern Ireland, and sellers anywhere within the UK cannot remove the UK from their shipping profiles. That means they are forced to offer their goods to NI even if they don't want to.

Digital products on Etsy are sold to the whole world by default; there is no way to exclude any countries that Etsy allows sales to. That means every digital listing on Etsy is currently offered in the GPSR jurisdictions, regardless of the seller's wishes or compliance.

The GPSR was published on May 10, 2023. That gave everyone 19 months to get their ducks in a row. However, Etsy has so far done nothing to allow UK and digital sellers to remove their listings from being available in the EU and NI. Nothing.

Support has told some sellers that the corporation is working on it, and that UK sellers could just cancel any sales to NI:

However, it is not good enough to refuse to complete orders to the EU and NI. Any item offered for sale in the EU and NI is automatically subject to the GPSR; just allowing someone to check out is a violation, if the listing and product does not meet the law's requirements.

As of December 13, there is still no way to stop selling to Northern Ireland on Etsy if you are a seller in the United Kingdom, and there is no way for a digital product to be excluded from offer in either the EU or NI. Sadly, this means the only way shops can follow the law is to close for the time being, and some are planning on doing that.

Etsy has failed its sellers, and there is no excuse.

UPDATE (December 13, 2024): Etsy now says it is working on the issues of excluding the EU and NI, but still advises cancelling sales to those locations in the interim, which does not comply with the GPSR. The company had 19 months to figure this out, but they still need a few more weeks at a minimum? Absurd.

Resources and Responsible Person Offerings

I've compiled a separate post on my Patreon, listing some of the official legal and government resources on GPSR, as well as rules and Help pages from some major marketplaces and Print on Demand companies, and a short list of places you can hire a "Responsible Person" for your products:

https://www.patreon.com/posts/sources-and-for-117871846

Please let me know if you find any broken links there, or have other resources to add!

This post will be updated as required.

UPDATED: December 13, 2024

[morningwitchy]

Hello!

Have you heard of the General Product Safety Regulations (GPSR) that goes into effect in the EU on December 13th? How will this affect your ability to ship to the EU? I really hope it won't, because I love your clothes!

i havent heard anything about this but to ship to the EU to begin with i go through shopify's international system so im sort of assuming that if something prevents me from selling there, they would mention it to me! but ill look into this as well

[dinchenix]

Thoughts about the coming GPSR?

(somewhat good in theory to protect buyers from dubious online listings)

unnecessary complicated for small businessnes (and dangerous if i truly have to put my adress on every single item),

ngl kinda feels only half cooked through bc nobody is 100% sure what it means for artists, especially at cons

will prob make it a lot more complicated for artists outside the EU to sell to the EU, bc they need a EU-rep here

for those that don't know about it: "The General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR) sets labelling requirements for essentially all consumer products sold in the European Union. More specifically, it sets requirements that concern the product, manufacturer, and contact details."

(my thoughts about it are a mess, i have been trying gather the important info with fellow artists for the past week and we still are unsure about the details)

[starglowy]

Hi, may I ask why my order does not work? :(

Are you not shipping worldwide?

I'm so sorry! I'm currently not shipping to Europe because of the "GPSR" aka "General Product Safety Regulation" for what I understand, merchants are required to have an economic operator located in EU and as a small business it is impossible for me :( Hopefully in the future, this changes and I'm able to ship to EU again, im so sorry for the inconvenience

[indiepressrevolution]

If you're a small creator or publisher who is still (understandably) confused about the EU Regulation 2023/988 on General Product Safety (GPSR) please read through this excellent post by Black Armada. It lays out the terms in a concise and easy to understand manner and matches up with everything we've been able to figure out about the regulation over the past few weeks.

If you haven't heard about the regulation yet, it affects every new product made from the 13th of December (2024) onward and gives a laundry list of requirements to be met before you can sell your product to anyone in the EU. Again, the above post talks through it in much more detail.

[warakami-vaporwave]

2D Soul is US only for now

Due to the new EU General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR) rules I temporarily disabled sales outside of the US for now.

I haven't had time to refresh my site yet (I'm aiming aiming for early 2025) and I definitely don't have the time or mental bandwidth to look into these new rules. From what I understand they require me to put all my personal contact information and address on every single item listing which I'm not comfortable with.

(site-wise I unfortunately had my markets set to just 2 of them; US and then International. I'll add back in non-EU international markets sometime in 2025. EU? I'm not sure)

Things like this is why we launched Super Cassette as US-only since well, there is a lot of this type of thing.

[silly-storm-chaser]

Brexit was a mistake, wasn't it.

There's a good chance I wont be able to offer commissions to EU residents from the 13th december.

FUCKING JOY

(The EU General Product Safety Regulations (GPSR) got updated and it includes digital goods, but its no where near specific enough to interpret what needs to comply, and what doesnt. If ANYONE can offer insight to the issue, it would be deeply appreciated)

[kingscorpion360]

KS3 | Black Flat Bill Cap

The high-profile fit and a green under visor make this cap a classic with an added pop of color. • 100% cotton twill • Structured • Five panel • High profile • Green undervisor • Sewn eyelets • Snapback closure Age restrictions: For adults EU Warranty: 2 years In compliance with the General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR), Oak inc. and SINDEN VENTURES LIMITED ensure that all consumer products…

[waebabre]

Feline

Embrace the feline style – 100% carded cotton Age restrictions: For adults EU Warranty: 2 years Other compliance information: Meets the lead, phthalates and flammability level requirements. In compliance with the General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR), Waebabre Clothing and SINDEN VENTURES LIMITED ensure that all consumer products offered are safe and meet EU standards. For any product safety…

[onlinemarktplatz-de]

Die Verordnung (EU) 2023/988 über die allgemeine Produktsicherheit (General Product Safety Regulation, GPSR) ist am 13. Dezember 2024 in Kraft getreten und ersetzt die bisherige Richtlinie 2001/95/EG. Ziel der GPSR ist es, ein hohes Maß an Verbraucherschutz zu gewährleisten und den Herausforderungen der Digitalisierung sowie des Online-Handels gerecht zu werden. Anwendungsbereich der GPSR Die GPSR gilt für alle neuen, gebrauchten, reparierten oder wiederaufgearbeiteten Produkte, die in der EU in Verkehr gebracht oder auf dem Markt bereitgestellt werden, sofern keine spezifischen EU-Produktsicherheitsvorschriften existieren. Ausgenommen sind unter anderem Human- und Tierarzneimittel, Lebensmittel, lebende Pflanzen und Tiere sowie Antiquitäten. Neue Pflichten für Onlinehändler Read the full article

[brexit-info]

"From Thursday, general product safety regulations (GPSR) will apply to a huge new range of products...Exporters will need an agent within the EU or Northern Ireland, costing at least €150 an item a year...The Office for National Statistics says Brexit cost the UK £1m an hour in 2022. The Office for Budget Responsibility estimates Brexit will cause UK trade to fall by 15%. Replicating EU regulators, as for medicines and chemicals, is expensive." Even now, years later, new economic consequences continue to add up.

[craftyscraplet]

Regarding EU Shipping and GPSR

Ok, it breaks my heart to do this but after reading up on the new General Product Safety Regulations (GPSR) I will no longer be able to ship to countries in the EU and Northern Ireland.

I'm just one person and its just not feasible for me to comply with all these new regulations :(

I'm sorry to all my EU customers. I can only hope they'll revise the rules in the future but nothing is guaranteed, I can only monitor the situation and hope.