New product safety regulations in the EU

 

As of December 2024, new product safety regulations will come into effect in the European Union. While the corresponding EU Regulation 2023/988, also referred to as the General Product Safety Regulation (GSPR), was adopted in 2023, the European Commission has decided to grant a grace period to allow merchants to prepare for the new rules.

 

This ends on 13 December 2024, which means that sellers and online marketplaces have only a few months left to get all their ducks in a row.

 

 

The new EU product safety rules

The new regulation amends and updates the previous EU directive on product safety as well as the Food Imitating Product Directive. Thus, the new regulation aims to include emerging technologies, harmonize existing rules, and strengthen consumer protection in the increasingly interconnected space of global commerce.

 

All non-food products, including new, used, and refurbished goods made available on the European market, both on and offline, must adhere to the new rules.

 

The GSPR details the duties of each party affected by the rules, including manufacturers, their EU representatives, importers and distributors, as well as all platforms of sale, like online marketplaces and single webshops.

 

For example, product listings on online marketplaces have to feature clear identification of the manufacturer and their authorised representative (Responsible Person) based in the EU. This has to include their contact information, like name and email address, as well as their duties regarding online sales.

 

A clear description, including product pictures, has to appear on the listing, along with details of its intended use and target audience. Specific health-and-safety cautions must be displayed, warning of the dangers of using the product outside of its intended scope and audience. This is especially important in case of products that may appear as food but are not. (Remember the Tide Pod Challenge?)

 

Besides sellers and manufacturers, online marketplaces also face added duties under the new GSPR. For example, they have to identify and display their single point of contact for their Safety Gate Portal, the EU’s rapid alert system for dangerous non-food products.

 

As mentioned above, the new GSPR only covers non-food products. This means that other products like food, animal feed, live animals, plants, pharmaceuticals, and plant protection products are covered by other pieces of legislation.

 

Should a vendor or online marketplace fail to comply with the GSPR, the regulation makes it the responsibility of EU member states to impose a proportionate penalty on the offender.

 

 

Reception of the new GSPR

While increased product safety and consumer protection are usually a desirable outcome, not all sellers welcome the new rules. Indeed, especially small businesses find it hard to comply with the extra administration the GSPR puts on their shoulders.

 

In addition, some vendors fear that displaying the manufacturer’s information may lead consumers and competitors to turn directly to the manufacturer and cut them out of the process entirely.

 

 

Related topics

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Visible VAT IDs on online marketplaces - threat or opportunity?

 

  

Dealing with the GSPR

By December 2024, online marketplaces had to prepare for compliance with the newly introduced rules. Many platforms offered some kind of help to their sellers to make the transition easier.

 

 

Amazon

The e-Commerce giant dedicated an entire section in its Seller Central to share detailed information with its vendors about how to comply with the GSPR. Amazon warned that listings not adhering to the new rules would be removed from 13 December 2024 onwards. By the way, the choice of deadline is interesting because it was right in the middle of the Christmas shopping season, where sellers could expect to have a lot of turnover on Amazon and other e-Commerce platforms.

 

 

AI-generated illustration of a warehouse employee checking product information

 

 

Products already sent to the company’s Fulfilment Centres before the deadline could still be sold, provided their listing was up to date with the new legislation. Amazon reserved the right to delete non-compliant listings from the platform and to terminate the accounts of sellers in serious breach of the GSPR.

 

Learn all about fulfilment!

 

 

eBay

Similar to Amazon, eBay also added a new section, complete with an FAQ, to its Seller Portal to educate its vendors about the new regulation and the necessary changes they had to make. In addition, the marketplace also worked on features that made it easier for sellers to publish the newly required information on their product listings.

 

eBay advised its sellers not to wait until the last day but to start gathering all necessary information and upload it as soon as possible. The platform had to comply with the legislation and take all the required steps in case a listing didn't adhere to the GSPR after the deadline.

 

 

Kaufland

German marketplace Kaufland also provided its sellers with information on how to comply with the heightened product safety and data disclosure requirements. If a listing didn’t contain the appropriate additions after the deadline, Kaufland reserved the right to hide it from consumers.

 

Similar to eBay, Kaufland also worked on features to help sellers add the required information to their product listings. The marketplace’s goal was to ensure a seamless transition and that sellers could continue to upload new listings complete with the newly required information as before.

 

Find out everything you need to know about Kaufland!

 

 

OTTO

OTTO informed its sellers via a letter about the changes that came into effect in December 2024. Before, it was only possible to upload all new information, i.e., the name of the manufacturer/importer, their postal address in the EU, and their email address, together in one batch, onto the product listings.

 

Failure to do so will result in the deactivation of the product listings in question.

 

Learn more about OTTO!

 

 

Online brand protection and increased product safety

We at globaleyez welcome any piece of legislation that aims to strengthen the protection of consumers and increase the amount of publicly available information. We hope that the new GSPR will serve the needs of consumers and brands alike.

 

Unfortunately, we know of a group of vendors quite unlikely to comply with the new regulation: fraudsters. People who intentionally infringe on your brand’s IP rights will probably not be deterred by the GSPR and may come up with colourful ways to circumvent the new requirements. Depending on how vigilant online marketplaces are at monitoring compliance, they may even get away with it for a while. That is, unless you already have the appropriate online brand protection measures in place.

 

Our marketplace monitoring service, for instance, detects any potentially IP-infringing listings on over 150 marketplaces worldwide. Thanks to keyword-based searches and extensive filtering options, we quickly find suspicious listings and eliminate authorised offers.

 

Sometimes it’s necessary to find out the quantities of your products that an infringing (or an authorized!) vendor is selling. In that case, we recommend our marketplace sales tracking service to determine how many of your products are sold by which seller.

 

Since fraudsters often use copied or stolen imagery to advertise their fake products, a round of image monitoring is needed. In addition to actually finding the images, our service is also essential for connecting the dots between seemingly independent fraudulent operators. Our specialised tool infrimage, performs systematic reverse image searches tailored to your exact requirements.

 

Want to try your hand at image monitoring? Test infrimage yourself!

 

Fraudsters often hide their real identities behind fake names and nonexistent addresses. However, if we actually buy something from them, the transaction itself and the arriving product contain crucial information that can help lead us to the fraudsters. This is why we developed and offer our widely popular test purchase service. Thanks to an anonymous purchase, you’ll learn everything you need about the seller and the origins of the product.

 

Not only can counterfeit products harm your brand. Even your own products can be harmful if their sellers decide to offer them outside of their authorised territories. This phenomenon is called a grey market, and it can have devastating effects on the price structure and trust in your distribution network. We have developed our grey market solution to address this issue and to assist your brand by dismantling harmful grey market structures.

 

Finally, we can enforce your rights and ensure the removal of the infringing product listing or any other web content from the internet. By the way, IP infringementis not the only reason for a takedown. Non-compliance with the new GSPR works just as well!

 

 

Conclusion

The new rules set by the GSPR will hopefully help increase the transparency and safety of online trade. However, since it wasn’t designed with the security of brands’ IP rights in mind, the new regulation won’t be enough to protect your brand against counterfeiters and grey market sellers.

 

If you want to keep your invaluable IP rights safe, contact us and let’s create a comprehensive online brand protection programme for you, perfectly tailored to your brand’s exact needs.