What does the new directive mean for providers of online marketplaces from 13.12.2024?

The new General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR) 2023/988 came into force on 13 December 2024 and applies directly in every EU member state.

The new Product Safety Regulation (GPSR) (General Product Safety Regulation 2023/988) aims to ensure that only safe products continue to be placed on the EU market.

Regulation 2023/988 (GPSR) applies to products placed or made available on the market to the extent that there are no other specific provisions under Union law relating to the safety of the products concerned, such as CE Directives or other provisions pursuing the same objective.

Obligations of providers of online marketplaces (online shops)

Before a product is offered to EU consumers, whether online or offline, businesses must ensure that the product complies with applicable legislation., the offer must contain at least the following clear and visible information (Article 19):

• The name, registered trade name or trade mark of the manufacturer and the postal address and an electronic address (email address or internet address leading to a contact form) at which he can be contacted
• If the manufacturer is not based in the EU, also the name, address and email address of the person responsible*
• Information enabling the identification of the product, including the image of the product, its type and other product identifiers
• Any warnings or safety information required by this Regulation or applicable Union harmonisation legislation, in a language easily understood by consumers, on the product, on the packaging or in the accompanying documents

*Responsible person: ‘The name, registered trade name or registered trade mark and contact details, including postal address and e-mail address, of the economic operator referred to in paragraph 1 shall be indicated on the product or on its packaging, on the package or in an accompanying document.

The EU Commission has now also published FAQs on the GPSR.

In most cases, this means additional work for data maintenance, because where it was previously sufficient to link the corresponding PDFs, information from them must now be made available online.