On December 13, 2024, the application of the new EU Regulation 2023/988 for the General Product Safety (GPSR - General Product Safety Regulation) will become mandatory, repealing Directive 2001/95/EC.
The goal of the Regulation is to strengthen product control, speed up communication regarding unsafe products, and implement recall and withdrawal actions.
Important new features have been introduced, especially for online trade.
Article 2 defines the areas of application.
The main novelties include:
- The definition of a “Safe Product” introduces cybersecurity features and the obligation to indicate the references of the Single Point of Contact.
- Regulation of online sales, which is now equated with offline sales. To ensure product safety, the Regulation introduces new duties for online sales platforms. See Article 22.
- Obligations for economic operators.
In Chapter VI, the Regulation provides for the Safety Gate system, which includes three elements for warning and informing about dangerous products:
- A rapid alert system for dangerous non-food products, through which national authorities and the Commission can exchange information on such products (Safety Gate rapid alert system).
- A web portal designed to inform the public and allow them to submit complaints (Safety Gate portal).
- A web portal through which businesses can fulfill their obligation to notify authorities and consumers about dangerous products and incidents (Safety Business Gateway).
