The General Product Safety Directive has been in force since 2001 and is transposed into German law by the Product Safety Act (ProdSG). It guarantees that only safe products are sold on the EU internal market.
The revised version is the EU Commission's response to changes in consumer buying behavior. Last year, also boosted by the COVID pandemic, more purchases than ever were made online, in many cases new technical products. The Commission's press release states:
"The General Product Safety Regulation introduces product safety rules for online markets and addresses risks related to these new technical products, such as cybersecurity risks, and online shopping. It will ensure that all products reaching EU consumers through online marketplaces or the nearest store are safe, whether they originate from the EU or outside. Thanks to the new regulation, markets will meet their obligations to ensure that dangerous products do not reach consumers."
The new proposed EU General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR) will replace the General Product Safety Directive (GPSD) to address, among other things, product safety challenges, including products with new technologies. The GPSR continues to improve market surveillance of dangerous products in the EU and make their recalls more effective.
With the new regulation, products are considered "placed on the market" as soon as they are made available on shopping platforms and can be prosecuted by market surveillance.
The requirements set out in this regulation will apply to used, repaired, refurbished or recycled products that re-enter the supply chain as part of commercial activity.
VDE mark as a synonym for tested product safety
A product meets the general safety requirements of the EU Product Safety Regulation if it preferably complies with relevant European standards or parts thereof with regard to the risks and risk categories covered. Testing for product safety according to these defined standards is one of the core tasks of the VDE Institute. With a VDE certification, manufacturers have the certainty that their product complies with the current normative and legal safety requirements as well as the recognized rules of technology.
The product safety test forms the basis for all further tests. We also offer testing in the areas of cyber security and supply chain services, among others. The VDE Institute is thus your partner for safe products in Europe and worldwide.
