Legal Alert: The GPSR Regulation is in force

What products do the GPSR cover?

Primarily, the GPSR applies to consumer products - that is, products that are intended for consumers and that consumers may use under foreseeable conditions. Examples include electronic devices, toys, cosmetics, bicycles, prams, shoes, and furniture.

Items excluded from the scope of the GPSR Regulation include:

• Medicinal products (for human and veterinary use)
• Plant protection products!
• Food and feedstuffs
• Aircraft
• Antiques
• Animal by-products and derived products.

What are the obligations imposed on those covered by the GPSR?

Chapter III of the GPSR Regulation clarifies the obligations of economic operators:

• Manufacturers (Article 9)
• Authorized representatives (Article 10)
• Importers (Article 11)
• Distributors (Article 12), and
• Online retailers (Article 19).

The obligations of manufacturers or importers include compiling a technical dossier on the product, including the analysis and minimisation of risks associated with its use, and ensuring the traceability of the product through a batch or lot number. E-commerce platforms, for their part, will be required to monitor the safety of their product offering and have procedures in place to respond to reports of unsafe products.

Under the new rules, unsafe products will include those that are not adequately protected against hacking. This is an issue that should not be lost on electronics manufacturers and retailers.

Online retailers' obligations

According to Article 19 of the GPSR, the distance seller is obliged to indicate the identity of the producer - his name, registered trade name or registered trademark and a postal and electronic address at which he can be contacted. If the manufacturer is not resident or established in the European Union, the distance seller must provide the name, postal and electronic address of the responsible person.

Notwithstanding the above, the distance seller must always include information enabling the product to be identified, including the image, type and other identifiers of the product, and any warning or safety information that must appear on the packaging or be contained in an accompanying document.

Penalties for failing to comply

The draft of the General Product Safety Act (from 29 July 2024) indicates that a manufacturer who, contrary to the obligations under the GPSR Regulation, places a product on the market that does not comply with the general safety requirements is subject to an administrative fine of up to PLN 1,000,000. Under the national legislation in force to date, the maximum penalty is up to PLN 100,000.

Other sanctions are envisaged for:

• Failure to identify the product (this also includes lack of contact details) - up to PLN 100,000.
• Lack of safety instructions, failure to inform about consumer accidents or to warn consumers of risks - up to PLN 200,000.
• Lack of technical documentation - PLN 40,000.

What is next?

Although the draft General Product Safety Act (from 29 July 2024), which implements the provisions of the GPSR Regulation, is currently at the European Affairs Committee stage, it is expected to be signed by the President in the first quarter of 2025. However, it should be noted that the GPSR is fully binding and directly applicable from 13 December 2024.

As a result of the entry into force of the new legislation, companies falling within the scope of the GPSR Regulation should begin to review their internal policies and procedures. 
If you are interested in our assistance in implementing the provisions of the GPSR Regulation in your business, please do not hesitate to contact us.

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