The General Product Safety Directive is the applicable law for the compliance of products which are not more specifically regulated by any other EU legislation.
Examples of products falling under the GPSD include low-voltage products falling below 50V, candles, hair and beauty accessories, brushes and mirrors, jewellery, household as well as general consumer goods.
Until the publication of the General Product Safety Directive 2001/95/EC on December 3, 2001 and the subsequent 3-year transition period, the General Product Safety Directive 92/59/CEE was the reigning legal framework for general product safety products.
On the 15th of January, 2004, the General Product Safety Directive 2001/95/EC became fully applicable in the EU as the only legal framework for general consumer products. Any product made available on the EU market (either via e-commerce or in physical stores) must comply with the essential safety requirements set out by the Directive 2001/95/EC.
Non-EU manufacturers wishing to place their products on the EU market should appoint a professional Authorized Representative. (A producer is defined in article 2 (E) as: the manufacturer of the product, (…) and any other person presenting himself as the manufacturer by affixing to the product his name, trade mark or other distinctive mark, or the person who reconditions the product.)
CE Marking is not applicable for products falling under the GPSD – improper application of the CE Marking will serve as a red flag for the Competent Authorities in the process of their surveillance activities.
Intervention of a Notified Body is not required for any conformity assessment procedures described in this directive.
Products which fail to comply with the essential general safety requirements may be subject to fines, publication on RAPEX, recall of the products off the EU market and total destruction of the products.
Finally, each EU Member State may pose additional national requirements for the compliance of certain GPSD products.
Directive 2001/95/EC became fully applicable on the 15th of January 2004. Objective of the Directive is to ensure that products placed on the European market are safe (Art. 1 par.1). Accordingly, the GPSD aims at protecting consumers from unsafe products.
The safety essential requirements must be ensured for products to be lawfully placed in the European Economic Area.
Article 2 GPSD defines a safe product as “any product which, under normal or reasonably foreseeable conditions of use [..], does not present any risk or only the minimum risks compatible with the product’s use, considered to be acceptable and consistent with a high level of protection for the safety and health of persons [..]. A safety evaluation must be performed concerning the relevant product and the below must be taken into account:
Under certain conditions, if a product is deemed to be unsafe, the European Commission can ban the marketing of it, recall it from customers and withdraw it from the market.
EU Member State enforce the GPSD requirements and are entitled to request all necessary information to the involved parties and take samples and perform safety checks of any product on the EU market.
The directive provides an alert system, the RAPEX system, which ensures the exchange of information about risk assessments, dangerous products and scientific development amongst other aspects necessary for control of safety of products.
The General Product Safety Directive is a “horizontal” directive applying to all those products addressed to general consumers which do not have more specific EU legislation setting out safety requirements.
Manufacturers need to determine the applicable standards for the product, at European, and/or international and/or national level, and then identify the appropriate conformity assessment module according to the product characteristics. The technical documentation to be compiled per product type should include the following:
Non-compliant products enter the EU Market everyday – whether manufacturer knowingly does so or due to a lack of control from the EU importer/distributor on the compliance requirements of products.
Each Competent Authorities of Member State focus on conducting systematic surveillance of products which are being made available on the market. This can include pulling products off of shelves, stopping products at customs or even deploying bots online to identify non-EU based e-commerce shops which mention that they ship to the EU Market. In the case that a product is found to be non-complaint, the main consequences include, but are not limited to:
The professionalism and expertise of the appointed Authorized Representative in dealing with various Competent Authorities and handling post-market surveillance case play a vital role in the successful recovery of your brand in the EU Market.
It is the responsibility of the manufacturer to continue to collect information related to use of their products after they have been made available to consumers as well as to ensure that they continue to be compliant as the legislation applicable to their products evolves. Post-Marketing surveillance activities include, but are not limited to:
Working with a professional Authorized Representative will help to ensure that the necessary actions are taken to ensure continued compliance and proper post-market surveillance.
Explore our Authorised Representative services for low-voltage products. Contact us for inquiries.
