Regulations (EU) 2023/988 & 2022/2065
GPSR & DSA — safety meets the marketplace
SupportedA Listrar record holds fields for this text's requirements.
Listrar summary
Two regulations that meet at the online checkout. The GPSR, applying since 13 December 2024, rewrote EU product safety for the e-commerce age: every consumer product needs a responsible economic operator inside the EU, traceability, accident reporting, and recall mechanics that actually reach buyers. The DSA comes at it from the platform side: marketplaces must verify who their sellers are before listing them, design their interfaces so sellers can state required product information, and act on illegal-product notices. Between the two, an unverifiable product with an unreachable seller is running out of places to be listed.
Who does it apply to?
- Manufacturers of consumer products sold in the EU, including via distance sales
- Importers and distributors
- The EU responsible person every product must have — manufacturer, importer or mandated representative
- Online marketplaces (GPSR art. 22; DSA arts. 30-32)
- Sellers from outside the EU targeting EU consumers
Main obligations
- Place only safe products; run an internal risk analysis and keep technical documentation (GPSR art. 9)
- Name an EU responsible person and print their contact on product or packaging
- Show identity, contact and product-safety information in every online offer (GPSR art. 19)
- Report accidents via the Safety Business Gateway; execute recalls with direct consumer notice (GPSR art. 20)
- Marketplaces: collect and verify seller traceability data before listing (DSA art. 30), design for compliance (art. 31), and remove unsafe listings on order (GPSR art. 22)
Key dates
- 12 June 2023
- GPSR in force
- 17 February 2024
- DSA applies to all platforms (VLOPs since August 2023)
- 13 December 2024
- GPSR applies — the old 2001 directive is history
Products in scope
- All consumer products without sector-specific EU safety law — the general net
- Products under harmonised legislation, for the aspects their own rules do not cover
- Second-hand, repaired and reconditioned goods, with narrow exceptions
Obligations by actor
- Manufacturer
- Risk analysis, technical file, traceability marks, accident reports, recalls (art. 9)
- Importer
- Verify the manufacturer did the work; carry EU contact duties (art. 11)
- Distributor
- Check markings and documents; act on safety knowledge (art. 12)
- Responsible person
- Be the reachable EU address for compliance and surveillance
- Marketplace
- Know your seller, surface safety info, respond to Safety Gate orders within two working days (GPSR art. 22, DSA arts. 30-32)
Documents and evidence to keep
- The technical documentation and internal risk analysis, per product
- Traceability data: batch, serial, supplier chain — retrievable, not archived in a drawer
- Responsible-person designations and their live contact details
- Recall and accident-report records, with the consumer-notification trail
- Marketplaces: seller-verification files and takedown logs
Sanctions and risks
- GPSR: national penalties (art. 44), Safety Gate alerts, forced recalls, sales bans
- DSA: fines up to 6 % of worldwide turnover for platform-duty violations
- Listings removed and accounts suspended — for sellers, marketplace enforcement bites before any court does
Key articles
- GPSR art. 9-12 — duties of manufacturers, importers, distributors
- GPSR art. 19 — distance sales: what every online offer must display
- GPSR art. 22 — specific product-safety duties of online marketplaces
- DSA art. 30-32 — traceability of traders, compliance by design, right to information
Official text
Last verified by Listrar: September 22, 2026