Position paper on the General Product Safety Regulation

In its newly published position paper on the General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR), Ecommerce Europe calls for a more risk-based and proportionate approach to ensure the updated rules will effectively tackle the problem of unsafe products on the European market.

The general purpose of the GPSR is to strengthen the legal framework for the safety of non-food consumer products, currently laid down by the General Product Safety Directive, while bridging the gap with other legislation regulating product safety. Ecommerce Europe welcomes the efforts made by the European Commission to facilitate harmonisation and to interlink existing legislation with each other. However, Ecommerce Europe stresses that more attention should be paid to shortcomings in the enforcement structures both in the applicable framework as well as in the Proposal.

Ecommerce Europe is concerned about the widened scope of the GPSR, which is to be extended to second-hand products. While we believe safety standards should by no means be lowered for repaired or reconditioned products, and strongly encourage the development of a more circular economy, the obligations placed on the various operators in the supply chain should be feasible to comply with. Therefore, a distinction should be made between the requirements that apply to newly manufactured products and used products.

Moreover, the GPSR expands the application of the responsible person from the Market Surveillance Regulation to all products. Ecommerce Europe argues that a more risk-based approach is needed in order to avoid unnecessary bottlenecks and ensure that companies can actually dedicate their resources to the products that the present the highest risks to European Consumers.

Ecommerce Europe points to the importance of improving the quality of notices to increase effectiveness of recall mechanisms. It is also crucial that national market surveillance and customs authorities have sufficient human and financial resources to effectively deal with the new challenges of the digital economy.

Ultimately, Ecommerce Europe warns that 6-month timeline slated for entry into application of the GPSR is unrealistic and urges an extension of the implementation period to at least 24 months, in line with the Market Surveillance Regulation.