The EU Product Safety Regulation (GPSR) 1, which has now been published, will regulate the provision of non-food consumer products on the market from December 13, 2024, after the transition period has expired. The GPSR thus replaces Directive 2001/95/EC and, to a large part, the ProdSG.
In this context, the term “consumer product” is defined more precisely: A product is “any item, whether or not it is interconnected to other items, supplied or made available, whether for consideration or not, including in the context of providing a service, which is intended for consumers or is likely, under reasonably foreseeable conditions, to be used by consumers even if not intended for them“.
B2B products and stand alone software are therefore not included. Other exceptions are also named, such as food, live plants and animals, antiques.
As before, the requirements in the so-called harmonized area have priority, such as products according to:
○ – Directive on machinery, (2006/42/EC)
○ – Low Voltage Directive (2014/35/EC)
○ – radio equipment and repealing directive (2014/53/EC)
More about the update
○ – For sectors not covered by the harmonized requirements, the requirements of the GPSR apply.
For example, for food contact articles according to (EC) No.1935/2004, the specific safety requirements (migration, sensory, …) have priority.
For the areas not considered, the requirements of the GPSR have to be observed then, e.g., mechanical safety, parallel applicability.
○ – The term “economic operator” has been defined more comprehensively. In addition to the manufacturer, there are other actors such as authorized representatives, importers, distributors and fulfillment service providers.
○ – A significant extension of the manufacturer’s obligations results from the fact that internal risk analyses must now be carried out for all products. This is now part of the required technical documentation. Risk based testing of products should generally be sufficient to address chemical risks.
○ – It also becomes more evident that technical documentation must be kept up to the date, retained for ten years, and that product safety must also be ensured in series production. Such requirements have long been familiar for toys, personal protective equipment, machinery, etc., and are now also required for “trivial products“.
○ – When indicating the manufacturer’s identification (name, registered trade name or registered trademark, postal address) on the product as a priority, the e-mail address must now also be provided.