Only a few months remain until December 13, 2024, the date from which the new General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR) will come into force, the community regulation that will replace the General Product Safety Directive and the more specific one concerning dangerous products resembling food.
Applicable throughout the European Union, the regulation will cover non-food consumer products sold within the community and promises to change many habits of Amazon sellers. But what is actually going to change for sellers? And how can they prepare in advance for the new rules?
What is the GPSR
The General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR) is a tool by which the European Union intends to improve the safety level of products sold, both online and offline, in the old Continent. The final text was approved two years ago, updating the previous European regulation dating back to 2001, which evidently could no longer respond consistently in light of the many changes that have occurred in the market.
In particular, the GPSR—in the version that will come into force soon—focuses mainly on the safety of products purchased online by European customers. For this reason, e-commerce sites like Amazon (but generally all online sales sites) will need to cooperate with market surveillance authorities if they discover that one of the products sold on their platforms is dangerous, establishing a single point of contact responsible for product safety.
A new scenario of transparency
In this scenario, it is therefore essential to know the sellers operating on the sales platforms and the products offered here. This will facilitate the task of market surveillance authorities, who will be able to issue orders to marketplaces to remove dangerous products from the platforms or temporarily disable access to such offers.
Among the most important novelties of this regulation is the obligation to appoint a legal representative in Europe. Although it may seem like a predictable provision, so far this has not been the case! As a result, non-European sellers (from China, but not only) have proliferated on Amazon, exploiting the marketplace as a preferred channel to sell their products without having a legal representation in the countries of the old Continent.
With the application of the new regulation, these sellers will be forced to adapt to the updated framework, appointing a legal representative in Europe or choosing to leave the platform. However, it is likely that a third option could be reached: an agreement with Amazon that provides for the products placed on the marketplace to be
Sold and shipped by Amazon
and no longer
Sold by (foreign company) and shipped by (Amazon/foreign company).
What changes with the GPSR for European sellers
So far, some general impacts of the new regulation. To understand how the GPSR will impact sellers’ sales, one must first remember that the new regulation will introduce the obligation to provide and display safety information clearly for most non-food consumer products sold within the European Union. This also includes sales conducted through marketplaces like Amazon.
For this reason, to prepare sellers for the changes in effect by the end of the year, Amazon has already started contacting sellers to remind them to provide the new mandatory information before the regulation comes fully into force.
As for the products affected by the regulation, most sellers on Amazon will be affected by the new rules. It covers the majority of all non-food consumer products sold, including used and refurbished ones.
The requirements to meet with the GPSR
Although the regulation is more comprehensive and structured than summarized here, we can certainly simplify the main requirements that will need to be met related to identifying and sharing:
- Responsible person. Non-food products must be labeled with the contact information of the responsible person. The contact must also include a postal address and email address in one of the official EU languages. The label can be applied directly to the product, its packaging, or a document accompanying it
- Manufacturer information. Non-food products must also have a second label. Here, all contact information of the manufacturer and importer must be included. Again, the label can be applied to the product, packaging, or accompanying documents,
- Labeling and traceability. Finally, products must be labeled with identifying elements. For example, data such as type or serial number is provided to ensure easy identification. Online listings will be required to include the product image and all necessary information.
What happens on Amazon from December 13, 2024
As anticipated, Amazon is starting to contact its sellers asking them to comply with the regulation in a timely manner.
In particular, the marketplace has already hinted that from December 13, 2024, it will remove all non-compliant offers. Therefore, by the aforementioned deadline, sellers will need to provide Amazon with:
- name and contact details of responsible persons and manufacturers.
- the applicable warning and safety information on the product detail pages in the languages of the country of sale.
The information can be provided through images, manuals, or other documents, as long as they contain the necessary details.
Finally, the seller is also required to enter the information of the responsible person or manufacturer on Amazon. For this purpose, a special section (Manage Your Compliance) has been added within Seller Central. Here, it will be possible to enter the contact details of the manufacturer and the responsible person.
And for those who want more information? We remind you that Amazon has already activated various sharing sources that allow sellers to prepare for the changes underway. You can therefore consult the discussion forums on the marketplace. The full text of the GPSR is also available on the European Commission’s website.
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