A kitchenware seller I know got a market surveillance email in January asking for the name and EU address of the "responsible person" for a silicone baking mat they'd been importing from a manufacturer outside the EU for three years. They didn't have one. The listing came down within 48 hours, not because the product was unsafe, but because nobody could confirm who was accountable for it if it turned out to be. That's the GPSR in a sentence: it's less about banning products and more about making sure someone, somewhere in the EU, can be held responsible for them.
What GPSR actually is
The General Product Safety Regulation, Regulation (EU) 2023/988, replaced the older General Product Safety Directive and has applied since 13 December 2024. It covers non-food consumer products sold in the EU — which is most of what a general PrestaShop store sells unless you're purely in services or digital goods — and it applies regardless of whether the seller is based inside or outside the EU.
The regulation's core shift from the old directive is traceability and online-marketplace accountability. Products need a clearly identifiable person in the EU who's responsible for compliance, listings need specific safety information shown before purchase, and online marketplaces have direct obligations to check this before letting a listing go live.
Who it applies to
| Business type | GPSR obligation level |
|---|---|
| EU-based manufacturer selling own products | Full manufacturer obligations (technical file, risk assessment, labelling) |
| EU-based retailer selling other brands' products | Distributor obligations — verify manufacturer compliance, don't sell known non-compliant products |
| Non-EU manufacturer selling into the EU | Must appoint an EU Responsible Person before the product can be placed on the EU market |
| Online marketplace hosting third-party sellers | Must collect and display trader/product information, act on notices, cooperate with authorities |
If you're a PrestaShop store selling your own branded goods manufactured outside the EU — a common setup for private-label sellers — you are very likely the party who needs to either appoint or be the Responsible Person, and that obligation doesn't disappear because your supplier is the one who actually made the product.
The four things GPSR actually requires
Strip out the legal phrasing and GPSR obligations for a typical online store come down to four buckets.
1. Product safety and risk assessment
Products must be safe under normal and reasonably foreseeable use. For most straightforward goods (kitchenware, textiles, toys within scope, basic electronics) this means following applicable harmonised standards and keeping evidence you did — test reports, certificates, supplier declarations. This isn't new to GPSR specifically, but GPSR tightens the documentation expectation.
2. Traceability — manufacturer and EU Responsible Person
Every product needs to show:
- Manufacturer name, registered trade name, and contact details (postal and electronic)
- A single reference point to identify the product — batch, serial, or type number
- For non-EU manufacturers: the name, address, and contact details of an EU-based Responsible Person
The Responsible Person doesn't have to be a separate company — for many small merchants importing directly, this is a role they take on themselves, provided they have an EU establishment. It's a real legal responsibility, though, not a formality: this person is the point of contact for market surveillance authorities and needs access to technical documentation on request.
3. Warnings and labelling
Products need clear safety information and warnings in a language consumers in the relevant market understand — not buried in a manual, but present on packaging or accompanying the product, and increasingly expected in the online listing itself before purchase.
4. Online-listing information (the part most PrestaShop stores miss)
This is the requirement that catches merchants off guard because it's specific to online sales and wasn't as explicit under the old directive. Before a consumer can complete a purchase, your product listing needs to display:
- Manufacturer name, address, and contact details
- Where applicable, the EU Responsible Person's details
- Information enabling product identification (image, type/batch/serial reference)
- Any warnings or safety information that should reasonably be provided before purchase
In practice, this means your PrestaShop product template needs fields for manufacturer/responsible-person data and a way to surface warnings that isn't just a PDF buried in a downloads tab.
GPSR compliance checklist for a PrestaShop store
Work through this per product category, not just once for the whole catalogue — a toy and a kitchen knife have different risk profiles even if both are "safe."
- [ ] Identify every product category in your catalogue that qualifies as a "consumer product" under GPSR (almost everything except pure digital goods and most B2B-only industrial items)
- [ ] For non-EU-manufactured products, confirm you have a named EU Responsible Person with a real postal address — a PO box alone typically won't satisfy this
- [ ] Add manufacturer and Responsible Person fields to your product template so they display on the product page before checkout, not just on the invoice
- [ ] Attach or link risk assessments, test certificates, and technical documentation per product line, stored somewhere retrievable within days, not weeks
- [ ] Update product descriptions to include required warnings in the languages of the markets you sell into
- [ ] Set up an internal process for handling recall or safety notices — who acts on a market surveillance request, and how fast
- [ ] If you sell through a marketplace as well as your own PrestaShop store, confirm the marketplace's trader-verification data matches what's on your own site
- [ ] Review supplier contracts to confirm who holds responsibility if a product is found non-compliant after sale
What happens if you don't comply
Market surveillance authorities across the EU can require corrective action, order products removed from sale, or require a public recall — and increasingly, online marketplaces are compelled to remove non-compliant listings even before a formal ruling completes, because GPSR gives them a duty to act on credible safety notices. The commercial risk isn't hypothetical: a delisted product mid-season is a lost sales window you don't get back, on top of any fines individual member states attach to non-compliance (penalty regimes are set at national level, so they vary).
How this connects to your wider compliance picture
GPSR doesn't sit in isolation — it overlaps with CE marking obligations for products in scope of specific product-safety directives (toys, machinery, electronics), and with the traceability expectations that show up again under the Digital Services Act for anything sold through a marketplace model. If your store also acts as a marketplace for third-party sellers, read our <a href="/blog/digital-services-act-explained-merchants/">Digital Services Act guide for merchants</a> alongside this one — the trader-verification duties overlap in practice even though they come from different regulations. For product categories requiring specific conformity marking, see <a href="/blog/ce-marking-online-sellers/">CE marking for online sellers</a>, and for the full cross-regulation view, our <a href="/blog/complete-eu-compliance-checklist-online-stores/">complete EU compliance checklist</a> ties GPSR into the broader picture alongside GDPR, consumer rights, and accessibility obligations.
Your GPSR action plan
Pull your ten best-selling physical SKUs and check each one against the online-listing requirement above — manufacturer details, Responsible Person where applicable, and pre-purchase safety information. If even one is missing a required field, that's a same-week fix, not a someday project; it's the piece of GPSR most likely to trigger a marketplace or authority notice first.
Frequently asked questions
Does GPSR apply to digital products or services?
No, GPSR covers physical consumer products. Digital-only goods and pure services fall outside its scope, though physical products bundled with digital elements (a smart device with an app, for example) remain in scope for the physical component.
Do I need an EU Responsible Person if I manufacture my products myself in the EU?
No — the Responsible Person requirement specifically addresses products from non-EU manufacturers. If you manufacture within the EU yourself, you carry the manufacturer's obligations directly rather than needing a separate appointed party.
What's the difference between GPSR and CE marking?
GPSR is a general safety regulation covering nearly all consumer products. CE marking applies to specific product categories governed by their own harmonised directives (toys, electronics, machinery). Many products need both: GPSR's general safety and traceability requirements, plus CE marking where a specific directive applies.
Can a marketplace remove my listing for a GPSR issue without warning me first?
It can happen quickly. GPSR requires marketplaces to act on credible safety notices from authorities or consumers, and the removal can precede a lengthy investigation. Keeping your documentation current is the best protection against sudden delisting.
How do I find out if my product category has specific GPSR guidance?
The European Commission publishes GPSR guidance and FAQs, and many national market surveillance authorities publish sector-specific interpretations. When in doubt on a specific product category, a compliance consultant or your industry trade association is usually faster than working it out from the regulation text alone.
Is GPSR retroactive for products already listed before December 2024?
GPSR applies to products placed on the market from its application date onward, but in practice this means existing listings still being sold need to meet the new requirements going forward — you can't rely on a product having been compliant under the old directive if it's still actively for sale.
Related reading
- Product Safety Compliance Checklist
- CE Marking for Online Sellers
- Complete EU Compliance Checklist for Online Stores
- Digital Services Act Explained for Merchants
- Right to Repair Regulations Explained
