General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR) - a BusinessEurope position paper

Key messages

• We support the goal to align with the New Legislative Framework (NLF) for products and the EU Regulation on market surveillance 2019/1020. However, the GPSR should seek alignment and not expand beyond the current legal framework for the harmonised sector.
• Several new concepts and definitions introduced in the GPSR are too vague and inconsistent with the EU legal framework on product safety, which may result in unnecessary overlaps and arbitrary implementation.
• Risks from new technologies should be addressed through harmonisation legislation on the product specific risk assessment basis, as this allows for more tailored solutions and prevents unnecessary overlaps.
• Chapter III places greater and disproportionate obligations on economic operators for non-harmonised products than exists for the harmonised sector under the NLF – which wrongly infers that non-harmonised products present a greater risk to consumers (e.g., Art. 17 traceability requirements).
• We should tap into the potential of digital technologies for a more effective application of the GPSR, without being overtly prescriptive to ensure that dynamic solutions can be developed.
• The obligation to appoint a responsible person in the EU for low-risk imports risks causing disproportionate bureaucracy and trade tensions and should therefore be based on a risk-assessment.
• We support due diligence obligations for online marketplaces that are consistent with the Digital Services Act and recommend upholding the limited liability scheme throughout the GPSR.
• Only products presenting a serious risk should be notified in the Safety Gate.