General Product Safety Regulation Regulations December 2024

[knit-in-styles]

I am part of the Ebay Expression where you participate in surveys. Today I received a survey re the new regulations which are coming in later this year if you sell to the EU. The survey was all about the wording of the email that will go out to sellers.

I have to admit, I was not aware of this and have no idea of which products this will affect but is a major change as the suggested email mentioned having to add the product manufactures name, address and contact details, add product safety and compliance information, product manuals on all listings. There is a link to to eBay EU if you are not aware where you can read some of the info.

https://www.ebaymainstreet.com/eupublicpolicy/issues/product-safety

[jj-car-parts]

We are selling used car parts, needless to day most of the car parts, even new come without manual, is this going to affect me? Will I be required to include manuals even if they are not applicable? What about "responsible person"? Can I be a responsible person then? I am getting loads of emails from 3rd party with offers of hiring responsible person for £100 etc... I suppose it's just a common spam everybody else is getting?

[cooksongold]

The responsible person must be located within the EU so going on your business address - no you can't be the responsible person and would have to look at one of those third parties.

The safety information ruling is vague as the EU would simply expect you to do due diligence to ensure you supply what is relevant to the product.

If you don't have safety documents, that doesn't mean safety documents aren't required for that particular product but its on you to review.

[1019suzanne]

Don't forget these 'safety documents' have to be in all the languages of the EU!  ( A bit like the 100 page booklet you get when you buy a new washing machine etc )🙄

[4_bathrooms]

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@1019suzanne wrote:

Don't forget these 'safety documents' have to be in all the languages of the EU!  ( A bit like the 100 page booklet you get when you buy a new washing machine etc )🙄

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They only need to be printed in the languages of the countries the listing will be available to be purchased in. For example, if your settings excluded shipping to Germany there would be no requirement for a German translation.

This is why things like new appliances include a printed EU Declaration of Conformity, user manual and safety warning leaflet all of which being printed in every EU language. It has been a long time requirement for manufacturers to include these with the product; from December 13th online retailers and online marketplace (business) sellers will need to make them available with the online listing too.    

[vintique*violet]

This just affects those selling to the EU and Northern Ireland...is that correct? 

[4_bathrooms]

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@jj-car-parts wrote:

I am getting loads of emails from 3rd party with offers of hiring responsible person for £100 etc... I suppose it's just a common spam everybody else is getting?

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If it's that Estonian company that has been spamming business sellers' email addresses and these boards forget them - their desperation to sign as many businesses up as possible suggests they're not going to be anybody's best option even if they're legitimate.

eBay published this list of responsible persons that they were recommending (click the "Third-party companies" icon to expand). Weirdly, that page has been moved to a different URL meaning it can only be found via Google now...

[4_bathrooms]

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@vintique*violet wrote:

This just affects those selling to the EU and Northern Ireland...is that correct? 

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It affects business sellers who sell to the EU/EEA and Northern Ireland. It does not affect private sellers. 

[vintique*violet]

Thank you for replying and clarifying. 

[jj-car-parts]

Sounds like no more international shipping for good, as if post Brexit mess wasn't enough... Does it work both ways? Will EU sellers have to comply with this if they offer postage to UK?

[cooksongold]

No - its nothing to do with Brexit.

It is purely related to products available for sale within or to EU or Northern Ireland.

It applies to sellers within the EU as well as sellers anywhere else in the world who make their products available for delivery into the Union.

It is believed the UK government are working up their own version of it. That doesn't surprise me, given they don't seem to have understood the ramifications of this one on sales to Northern Ireland!

[4_bathrooms]

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@cooksongold wrote:

It is believed the UK government are working up their own version of it. That doesn't surprise me, given they don't seem to have understood the ramifications of this one on sales to Northern Ireland!

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It will be the Product Regulation and Metrology Act 2024. You can view the Bill in it's current form here (use the "Get File" box).

[haare-limited]

How do I block EU and NI?

I don't want my listings closed. I have removed international shipping from my business policies but is there anything else I should do?

Any help?

[555njp]

Also tick NI from domestic countries you don’t ship to (as well as Europe) and all should be well.

Don’t forget to remove GSP too.

[the_hoff]

"It will be the Product Regulation and Metrology Act 2024. You can view the Bill in it's current form here (use the "Get File" box)."

I've had a quick look at the link.  Any idea of how long we've got before this act is passed into law?  Need to update my CV and start brushing up on my interview skills as this will destroy my business if the legislation mirrors the EU's.  I suspected that the government would want to do something similar to the EU as part of them trying to reset their relations with them.  It's understandable but I don't expect the plight of small businesses like mine will figure too much in the bigger picture.  I know my local Labour MP who was elected in July, who on the surface seems to have an understanding of the issues small businesses face.  I might write to him.  It might be in vain but if nothing else, it may highlight that this legislation will with a stroke of a pen wipe out many small online GB businesses.

[jj-car-parts]

Looks like this does not apply to used parts that were manufactured before Dec-2024 and sold in UK market in compliance with directives.

[4_bathrooms]

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@the_hoff wrote:

I've had a quick look at the link.  Any idea of how long we've got before this act is passed into law?  

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It's currently a Bill at the HoL committee stage so it will be a while yet. Once the Bill receives Royal Assent it will become an Act (law) but there might be a delay between it becoming law and being enforced.

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@the_hoff wrote:

Need to update my CV and start brushing up on my interview skills as this will destroy my business if the legislation mirrors the EU's.  I suspected that the government would want to do something similar to the EU as part of them trying to reset their relations with them.  It's understandable but I don't expect the plight of small businesses like mine will figure too much in the bigger picture.  

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The text of the PRaMA pretty much gives away the fact it is retaliatory. I'm not sure why you think it would destroy your business though?

[angeles.couture]

I just spoke with Etsy regarding my UK delivery profile, as I wanted to disable delivery to Northern Ireland. Unfortunately, the option isn’t available, and Etsy's support team seems unaware of the GPSR issue. They mentioned they’re unsure how they will address it. I told them, 'They better act quickly, as starting December 13th, sellers will be forced to sell to Northern Ireland and the EU illegally.' All they could say was that they would take note of the conversation, nothing further. All the sellers on the platform will get in trouble by know knowing also. In the past, we’ve had to cancel orders for toys to Northern Ireland because the products lacked the required CE/NI markings. The client was shocked and didn't even know. Since Brexit, toys, electronics, cosmetics, medicines and more, have had to comply with the 'Norther Ireland Protocol' which mandates these markings for goods sold in Northern Ireland, so it is not new, but now ALL products including used, and antiques have to comply (meaning of antique by EU is an art related product which dates to very old date, and can't be used for personal use, so antique porcelain plate which you can eat from is not an antique, but plate with a hook at the back, which and can be hang on the wall for display is an antique art. Plus, you need to prove the age of the product).  I switched this madness completely off!

[555njp]

Wow, so are you saying Etsy doesn’t have a way to cut off EU & NI shipping options?

If you google GPSR ETSY UK (sorry I can’t post the link) you’ll get to an article on Etsy’s seller handbook dated 20th November which explains the whole GPSR impact on sellers, how to comply and how Etsy plan to deal with non-compliant accounts. This is more direct than eBay, as it talks about removing listings and suspending accounts if non-compliant.

I don’t use Etsy so I don’t know if it’s possible to disable NI or not, but Etsy are certainly very aware of the impending GPSR rules. If they said otherwise that was incorrect.

[1019suzanne]

I read through their article but I don't know whey they have not mentioned original paintings - which ARE excluded from the 'banned' list.  

[mahpetsupplies]

Cheerio Northern Ireland.  It's been fun. 🖐😕