New rule to hit GB small businesses selling to NI
BBC article on the incoming legislation and its potential impact
BBC News
GPSR or General Product Safety Regulation is a European Union regulation designed to ensure all products sold in the EU are safe and meet certain standards.
If you’re a business manufacturing products, and exporting them into the EU (and Northern Ireland), you’ll need to be aware of the new rules which come into force on December 13, 2024, as it may affect your business.
GPSR places a number of responsibilities on manufacturers of products, including:
Responsible person - organisations not based in the EU must establish an operator within the EU that is responsible for compliance with the GPSR, and they should be identified on the product or its packaging.
Safety assessments - safety assessments of products must include consideration of several new factors, aimed at ensuring the safety of new and emerging technologies, as well as consideration of cybersecurity risks, AI, use by children, connectivity with other services.
Contact and identification information - Detailed contact information must be available to purchasers, such as manufacturer’s name, trademarks, contact details - all of which must be presented on the product itself or in its documentation
Reporting and investigation of complaints - Direct channels must be set up for buyers to submit concerns or complaints about safety issues along with an internal log of those complaints, as well as reporting them to an EU portal.
Product recalls - Local authorities and all affected buyers need to be notified, and rules on how those consumers must be contact hace been updated.
This list is by no means exhaustive, and anyone creating and selling into the EU and NI would be sensible to seek professional advice on the matter, else face potential fines and liability.