GPSR - what to do when you sell components, not products

[teap0t42]

Under EU law the items I sell are not classified as finished products, therefore GPSR does not apply.

From what I can see there is no way to indicate that your items are exempt - if you sell in a category eBay considers to be covered by the legislation you must provide the required information.

Is there a solution to this conundrum, or am I going to become a GB only business from later this year?

[555njp]

Several threads running on this topic now and I have the same question.
We have pretty much stopped selling to the EU anyway as p&p makes most spare parts too pricey for them, but we still do quite a lot to NI.

My thoughts are that from December we'll just stop selling to NI too as frankly this is potentially a lot more work for zero gain.

[camerapartsuk]

I'd also like to know this.

[sparetoolparts]

Same Boat here, but I sell from Northern Ireland to GB and EU

[jonat_broad]

Looking at your lines surely they would still be considered consumer goods.

Can you advise in which part of GPSR it only refers to finished products? Would also be interested as a lot of the business I work for also sell components. The only part I can see is the below...

"product’ means any item, whether or not it is interconnected to other items, supplied or made available, whether for consideration or not, including in the context of providing a service, which is intended for consumers or is likely, under reasonably foreseeable conditions, to be used by consumers even if not intended for them"

Spare parts, particularly if spare parts for model trains, would still be used by consumers surely?

[teap0t42]

My understanding is that only finished items count as product, i.e. items which do not need further assembly by the customer to perform a function. Of course there is a grey area, but all of my items require soldering or similar installation which, by my reading at least, makes them not products.

I must admit I've not dug deeply in to GPSR so it's possible the meaning of Product is different to other directives. I'm more familiar with things such as the Machinery, EMC and Radio directives and they all differentiate finished products from items which do not have a function on their own.

The directives usually take the view that components and sub-assemblies cannot meaningfully comply with standards. Sometimes you have things like 'Partially Completed Machines' in the Machinery Directive which still need to meet certain aspects, but often the view is taken that the finished product the item is assembled in to is what needs to comply.

It's also a massively difficult area to fully understand, and to be honest I'm probably going to take the path of not risking it. If the EU apply a different interpretation for this directive then I can fall foul there, and eBay don't seem to have a clue so are likely to delete my listings anyway even if my interpretation is correct.

[sparetoolparts]

still hunting for answers on this, but finding it really hard to get any simple to follow/understand information.

I would assume I'm right in saying, this applies to not just EBAY/Amazon but to all trading, so even if I stopped using these platforms I would still need to get a RP for sales in the EU.

My biggest concern is, I buy my component parts from a wholesaler who buys from the  manufacturer, I know rightly when I start to ask questions about if there is the RP etc, it will go over their heads.  I guess what I'm looking for is the silvet bullet that says if selling component parts for a powertool then this doesnt apply. 

[4_bathrooms]

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@teap0t42 wrote:

Under EU law the items I sell are not classified as finished products, therefore GPSR does not apply.

 This is what the GPSRs state:

"2. This Regulation does not apply to:

(a) medicinal products for human or veterinary use;

(b) food;

(c) feed;

(d) living plants and animals, genetically modified organisms and genetically modified microorganisms in contained use, as well as products of plants and animals relating directly to their future reproduction;

(e) animal by-products and derived products;

(f) plant protection products;

(g) equipment on which consumers ride or travel where that equipment is directly operated by a service provider within the context of a transport service provided to consumers and is not operated by the consumers themselves;

(h) aircraft referred to in Article 2(3), point (d) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1139;

(i) antiques.

3. This Regulation applies to products placed or made available on the market whether new, used, repaired or reconditioned. It does not apply to products to be repaired or reconditioned prior to being used where those products are placed or made available on the market and are clearly marked as such."

"Antiques, such as works of art or collectors’ items are specific categories of products which cannot be expected to meet the safety requirements laid down by this Regulation, and should therefore be excluded from its scope. However, in order to prevent other products from being mistakenly considered as belonging to those categories, it is necessary to take into account that works of art are products created solely for artistic purposes, that collectors’ items are of sufficient rarity and historical or scientific interest to justify their collection and preservation, and that antiques, if they are not already works of art or collectors’ items or both, are of an extraordinary age. When assessing whether a product is an antique, such as a work of art or a collector’s item, Annex IX to Council Directive 2006/112/EC (13) could be taken into account."

Annex IX states:

"PART A

Works of art

(1) Pictures, collages and similar decorative plaques, paintings and drawings, executed entirely by hand by the artist, other than plans and drawings for architectural, engineering, industrial, commercial, topographical or similar purposes, hand-decorated manufactured articles, theatrical scenery, studio back cloths or the like of painted canvas (CN code 9701);

(2) original engravings, prints and lithographs, being impressions produced in limited numbers directly in black and white or in colour of one or of several plates executed entirely by hand by the artist, irrespective of the process or of the material employed, but not including any mechanical or photomechanical process (CN code 9702 00 00);

(3) original sculptures and statuary, in any material, provided that they are executed entirely by the artist; sculpture casts the production of which is limited to eight copies and supervised by the artist or his successors in title (CN code 9703 00 00); on an exceptional basis, in cases determined by the Member States, the limit of eight copies may be exceeded for statuary casts produced before 1 January 1989;

(4) tapestries (CN code 5805 00 00) and wall textiles (CN code 6304 00 00) made by hand from original designs provided by artists, provided that there are not more than eight copies of each;

(5) individual pieces of ceramics executed entirely by the artist and signed by him;

(6) enamels on copper, executed entirely by hand, limited to eight numbered copies bearing the signature of the artist or the studio, excluding articles of jewellery and goldsmiths' and silversmiths' wares;

(7) photographs taken by the artist, printed by him or under his supervision, signed and numbered and limited to 30 copies, all sizes and mounts included.

PART B

Collectors' items

(1) Postage or revenue stamps, postmarks, first-day covers, pre-stamped stationery and the like, used, or if unused not current and not intended to be current (CN code 9704 00 00);

(2) collections and collectors' pieces of zoological, botanical, mineralogical, anatomical, historical, archaeological, palaeontological, ethnographic or numismatic interest (CN code 9705 00 00).

PART C

Antiques

Goods, other than works of art or collectors' items, which are more than 100 years old (CN code 9706 00 00)."

Nowhere can I see where components are exempted.

[dynamic_perversity]

If it casts a shadow, it is included apart from a few exceptions most of which have existing regulations.

[teap0t42]

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@4_bathrooms wrote:

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Nowhere can I see where components are exempted.

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If that really is the case then it's a big departure from other legislation. Generally things which aren't complete products are not covered, simply because the manufacturer has no control over how they are used so can't guarantee their safety / compliance.

I suspect we need to 'go up a level' to see how things are defined before they go in to legislation, but that's a minefield.

[sparetoolparts]

Anyone got anything else from Ebay on this?

Been chatting with a guy who works around the Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC

And seems to think that declaration of incorporation from the manufacturer would surfice.

I'm hoping a large company like Bosch / Makita / Milwaukee will have all the details on the spare parts packaging.

But I guess time will tell

[danierobert_227]

Article 3, (1): ‘product’ means any item, whether or not it is interconnected to other items, supplied or made available, whether for consideration or not, including in the context of providing a service, which is intended for consumers or is likely, under reasonably foreseeable conditions, to be used by consumers even if not intended for them;

(17) ‘consumer’ means any natural person who acts for purposes which are outside that person’s trade, business, craft or profession;

The EU have not yet published official guidance but I read this to mean that if something is used as a component in the making of a final product then it is not intented for use by a consumer.

I guess this is similar to the RoHS definition.

But yes, it remains unclear.

[4_bathrooms]

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@danierobert_227 wrote:

Article 3, (1): ‘product’ means any item, whether or not it is interconnected to other items, supplied or made available, whether for consideration or not, including in the context of providing a service, which is intended for consumers or is likely, under reasonably foreseeable conditions, to be used by consumers even if not intended for them;

The EU have not yet published official guidance but I read this to mean that if something is used as a component in the making of a final product then it is not intented for use by a consumer.

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That's not how I read it; I read it as:

"Article 3, (1): ‘product’ means any item...which is intended for consumers or is likely, under reasonably foreseeable conditions, to be used by consumers even if not intended for them"

In other words any item listed on eBay.

[4_bathrooms]

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@sparetoolparts wrote:

Been chatting with a guy who works around the Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC

And seems to think that declaration of incorporation from the manufacturer would surfice.

I'm hoping a large company like Bosch / Makita / Milwaukee will have all the details on the spare parts packaging.

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Those sort of companies should have an EU presence or at least an EU representative. If the product requires a CE mark you can usually obtain the requisite manufacturer and responsible person information from the Declaration of Conformity (which you will also require). For example, you can download DoCs for Bosch's products here. 

[sparetoolparts]

Yea I've already been looking at that Bosch page, but it isnt bringing up any of the products that I sell 😞

Also because I sell anything from a screw to a Motor for the powertools none will have CE marks

[4_bathrooms]

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@sparetoolparts wrote:

Also because I sell anything from a screw to a Motor for the powertools none will have CE marks

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Is a manufacturer identified on the packaging? It will normally state something like "Manufactured in <country> on behalf of <company> by <manufacturer>".

When it comes to the sort of items you have listed they are often manufactured by an OEM rather than the nominated manufacturer of the finished tool. So, whilst Bosch will be the manufacturer of the saw (as a finished article) the handles are likely manufactured in a Chinese factory - acting as an OEM - and imported into each destination country/territory. Are you importing them yourself or purchasing them from someone who does?      

[sparetoolparts]

Hi

I'm buying from UK Wholesalers who get parts direct from the manufacturer.

Some brands have manufacturer details on them but others dont 😞

[4_bathrooms]

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@sparetoolparts wrote:

I'm buying from UK Wholesalers who get parts direct from the manufacturer.

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I doubt they're coming directly from the named manufacturer (Bosch, Makita etc.) - someone is most likely importing them from the factories that manufacture the components for their tools. Big manufacturers only tend to supply spare parts/components themselves if they assemble their items in the destination country which is increasingly rare these days (the one exception is certain household appliances due to the "right to repair" legislation). 

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@sparetoolparts wrote:

Some brands have manufacturer details on them but others dont 😞

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Does it state where they are located? If it's just a brand name that is shown their image/logo is most likely being used under licence. You'll need to ask your suppliers for the actual manufacturer details and/or those of the EU responsible person. 

I think you will face the issue of being unable to identify the actual manufacturer of some of your products. An importer established in the EU will be importing the same parts; their (EU-based) customers have no need to provide responsible person details. The EU importer certainly won't be willing to act as the responsible person for the (identical) products you sell as you are actually competing with them for business within the EU which reveals some of the real intentions behind the GPSR (market protection).

[sparetoolparts]

The search continues for answers on this 🙂

I did get a reply from Black & Decker though, stating they are based in Europe and so don't need  a responsible person. They also said everything they sell meets EU safety Regulations and provided me with a EU address and email address.

But there are no safety certs provided for spare parts