GPSR · RESPONSIBLE PERSON
The EU asks one question before your product sells: who is responsible, inside the Union.
Under the General Product Safety Regulation, a brand with no EU establishment needs a responsible economic operator inside the Union. EFC fills the role for in-scope consumer products.
THE POSITION
Market access is granted to a chain of accountable operators.
The General Product Safety Regulation, Regulation (EU) 2023/988, has applied since 13 December 2024. It requires a responsible economic operator established in the Union behind every in-scope consumer product. For a brand without an EU establishment, that operator is the difference between market access and none.
Market access in the EU is not granted to a product. It is granted to a chain of accountable operators, and the General Product Safety Regulation closes the chain at the EU border. The named Responsible Person is where accountability becomes locatable: a real entity, inside the Union, that an authority can reach. A brand selling from outside Europe either appoints one or stays out of the market.
Marketplaces enforce this directly. Amazon requires every EU listing to carry a named Responsible Person before it can go live. Its own seller documentation states that non-compliant listings risk removal.
ARTICLE 16
The role is defined, and the list is finite.
GPSR Article 16 fixes what the named operator does, and the list is finite. The duties are accountability duties, held by a locatable entity. They are not a quality claim.
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Verify that the product's technical documentation and risk analysis exist, and keep them available.
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Carry the operator's identity and contact details on the product or its packaging.
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Cooperate with EU market-surveillance authorities on request.
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Take corrective action on a non-compliant product, and notify a dangerous one through the Safety Business Gateway.
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Serve as the EU point of contact for the product.
SCOPE
Where the role ends, and which regimes take over.
A European Responsible Person under GPSR is the general consumer-product safety operator. Drawing the boundary precisely is the point: the role is narrow by design, and that restraint is what makes it trustworthy.
What the role carries
- The general consumer-product safety operator role under GPSR, Regulation (EU) 2023/988.
- A real EU-established entity a market-surveillance authority can reach.
- The EU point of contact named on the product, accountable under Article 16.
- The role held inside the same operation that holds the stock and clears the customs.
What it is not
- Not a declaration that the product is safe. The manufacturer designs safety in.
- Not a medical-device role. Devices are governed by Regulation (EU) 2017/745 and carry a separate representative and conformity regime.
- Not CE conformity assessment.
- Not a customs function, and not a single passport across EU product law. Where sector-specific harmonised law governs a product, that regime applies in place of or alongside GPSR.
A European Responsible Person under GPSR is the EU-established operator named on an in-scope consumer product. It lets a market-surveillance authority reach a real entity inside the Union. It is the permission to sell, not a safety certificate.
THE REACH
One named entity, reachable from every touchpoint.
COVERAGE AND EFC'S POSITION
What GPSR reaches, and the credential at its true scope.
GPSR is the general safety regulation for consumer products, across every sales channel including online. It covers new, used, repaired, and reconditioned goods, where no sector-specific harmonised law governs them. It does not reach medicinal products, food and feed, living plants and animals, plant-protection products, certain aircraft, or antiques. Each of these carries its own regime.
EFC acts as European Responsible Person under GPSR for in-scope consumer products, inside the same operation that holds the stock and clears the customs. The entity accountable on the product is the entity running the operation beneath it.
The role is stated at its true scope: in-scope consumer products under GPSR, and nothing beyond that. Where a product needs a sector regime on top, that is the conversation to have before anything ships.
EFC acts as European Responsible Person under GPSR for in-scope consumer products.
GPSR, answered straight
What brands ask about the GPSR European Responsible Person role.
What changed on 13 December 2024?
From that date GPSR replaced the older General Product Safety Directive. It made the EU-established Responsible Person a precondition for placing an in-scope consumer product on the market. A product without a named operator inside the Union may not be sold. Online listings without one can be removed by market-surveillance authorities or the platform.
What has to appear on the product or the listing?
The name and contact details of the EU-established Responsible Person must be on the product, its packaging, the parcel, or an accompanying document. They must also appear on the offer wherever the product is sold online. This is what gives a market-surveillance authority a real entity inside the Union to reach. EFC is named there for in-scope consumer products it carries the role for.
Can EFC carry the role for a medical device?
No. EFC carries only the general consumer-product safety operator role under GPSR. Medical devices are governed by Regulation (EU) 2017/745 and carry a separate representative and conformity regime, which EFC does not perform. A device maker keeps its own regulatory chain, and EFC handles the fulfilment and bonded-landing side.
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