European Council gives final green light to legislation that will make products safer for consumers

The Council has adopted the general product safety regulation (GPSR), which reinforces the safety rules for products sold both offline and online. The regulation will reinforce market surveillance for unsafe products and consumer rights for anyone who has been sold an unsafe product.

The regulation adopted today reinforces product safety and consumer protection, and makes it easier for consumers to repair, return or replace unsafe products. In detail:

(*) online marketplaces will have to co-operate with market surveillance authorities if they detect a dangerous product on their platform, and must establish a single point of contact in charge of product safety

(*) market surveillance authorities will be able to order online marketplaces to remove dangerous products from their platforms or to disable their access

(*) a single market surveillance regime will apply to all products

(*) if a product has proven to be unsafe, economic operators must immediately adopt corrective measures and inform market surveillance authorities and consumers

(*) if a product must be recalled, consumers will be entitled either to have it repaired or replaced or to be refunded (and can choose between at least two of these options)

(*) economic operators should have a person responsible for products sold online and offline (independently of the product’s origin), who will ensure the availability of technical documentation, instructions, and safety information

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