Get ready for the EU General Product Safety Regulation

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What you need to know

Navigating a new regulation can be challenging, so we’re letting you know in advance about the General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR) going into effect 13 December 2024. It introduces specific safety-related information that businesses must provide when selling to buyers in the European Union (EU) and Northern Ireland (NI). If you don’t sell in or ship to these regions, the GPSR isn’t applicable to you.  


While there’s nothing you need to do right now, we encourage you to learn more about this regulation by visiting our General Product Safety Regulation page.

What does GPSR apply to?

The General Product Safety Regulation applies to new, second-hand, repaired and reconditioned items sold on eBay and all other marketplaces, to buyers in the European Union (EU) and Northern Ireland (NI). There are few products and categories that are excluded from the GPSR—you can view the entire list of excluded categories on our Seller Centre page.

Complying with the GPSR

The GPSR requires all business sellers to add the following information for eligible items available for sale in the EU and NI:

  • The product manufacturer's name and contact information
    • If the manufacturer isn’t located in the EU or NI, you’ll have to indicate an EU or NI-based Responsible Person or entity, along with their name and contact details
  • Any relevant product information like model number, pictures, type, and CE marking
  • Product safety and compliance information like safety warnings, labels, and product manuals in the local language

We understand that collecting this information can be time consuming, but adding it to your listings will ensure you comply with the regulation and can continue selling to buyers in these regions. It’ll also help you maintain your buyers' trust in the EU and NI. 

Next steps

We’re working on a new feature that’s designed to simplify the process of adding the required information to one or multiple your listings. We’ll notify you in July when you can start updating this information to your listings. In the meantime, we recommend that you start collecting this information so you’ll be ready to comply with the regulation once it goes into effect.

FAQs

You’ll have to display any applicable instructions, warnings for safe use and disposal, and safety information for the product you’re selling. This information must be presented in the local language of the country where your item is being sold. You can include an image (a pictogram, a symbol, or a label), a statement (safety warnings or chemical hazard warnings), a product manual, or any other document that contains this information. The supported file formats are .pdf, .jpg and .png. 

This information can be found on the product, on its packaging, or in any accompanying documents. You can also reach out to the product manufacturer if you don’t have this information. 

The EU or NI-based Responsible Person is in charge of specific tasks related to compliance and product safety, including:

  • Checking that the EU declaration of conformity, CE marking, and other technical documentations are in order, and providing them to the market surveillance authorities to demonstrate the conformity of the product
  • Informing the market surveillance authorities about dangerous products and accidents through the EU Safety Business Gateway
  • Cooperating with the market surveillance authorities and ensuring the necessary actions are taken to rectify any non-compliance issues
  • Providing documented evidence of the checks that were performed, if requested by the authorities

The Responsible Person can be one of the following and must be based in the EU or NI:

  • The manufacturer
  • An importer
  • An authorised representative of the manufacturer
  • A fulfilment service provider if the manufacturer, importer and authorised representative aren’t based in the EU or NI

If you’re a seller, you can contact the manufacturer or your upstream supplier to obtain the name and contact details of the EU-based Responsible Person.

If you’re a manufacturer or brand owner that’s based outside the EU and have a subsidiary in the EU, or already have an EU importer, it may be possible to appoint them as the Responsible Person for your products. You can also check with the testing laboratory or the certification company that you use, as they may assist you with assigning a Responsible Person.

We’re engaging with external service providers to determine if they’d support you with appointing an EU or NI-based Responsible Person. We’ll update this page and share more information if and when it’s available.