The General Product Safety Directive (GPSD) aims at ensuring that only safe consumer products are sold in the EU. The objectives of the Directive are both to protect consumer health and safety and to ensure the proper functioning of the internal market.
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The General Product Safety Directive (GPSD)
Objective and scope
A revised GPSD (2001/95/EC) is applicable as from 15 January 2004.
The GPSD is intended to ensure a high level of product safety throughout the EU for consumer products that are not covered by specific sector legislation (e.g. toys, chemicals, cosmetics, machinery). The Directive also complements the provisions of sector legislation which do not cover certain matters, for instance in relation to producers obligations and the authorities powers and tasks.
The Directive provides a generic definition of a safe product. Products must comply with this definition. If there are no specific national rules, the safety of a product is assessed in accordance with:
- European standards,
- Community technical specifications,
- codes of good practice,
- the state of the art and the expectations of consumers.
Report on the implementation of the GPSD (January 2009)
Obligations of producers and distributors
In addition to the basic requirement to place only safe products on the market, producers must inform consumers of the risks associated with the products they supply. They must take appropriate measures to prevent such risks and be able to trace dangerous products.
Obligations of Member States
Under the GPSD, the Member States are obliged to enforce the requirements on producers and distributors. They must appoint the authorities in charge of market surveillance and enforcement. In addition to the power to impose penalties, the Directive gives the surveillance authorities a wide range of monitoring and intervention powers.
Exchange of information via a rapid alert system
The Directive provides for an alert system (the RAPEX system) between Member States and the Commission. The RAPEX system ensures that the relevant authorities are rapidly informed of dangerous products. Subject to certain conditions, Rapid Alert notifications can also be exchanged with non-EU countries. In the case of serious product risks, the Directive provides for temporary Decisions to be taken on Community-wide measures.
Emergency measures
Under certain conditions, the Commission may adopt a formal Decision requiring the Member States to ban the marketing of an unsafe product, to recall it from consumers or to withdraw it from the market. Such Decisions at Community level can be taken:
- where the Member States have different approaches to dealing with the risks posed by such dangerous products;
- where urgency is required due to the risk posed by the product, and where no other Community laws deal with that risk;
- where such Decisions are the most effective way of eliminating the risk.
Sector-specific legislation
In general, the GPSD applies in a complementary way to products and/or risks covered by sector-specific product safety legislation.
A structured list of legislation relevant to specific sectors has been drafted by the Directorate-General for Enterprise and Industry. This list is known as the Pink Book. It is updated annually to incorporate legislative developments.
Liability for defective products
Guidance document
The Commission department has drafted a guide to the practical application of the GPSD to many areas where specific sector legislation exists.
Guidance document (1st chapter) covers the Toys Directive, the Directive on Low Voltage Equipment (LVD), the Directive on Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), and the Directive on Cosmetic Products.
Guidance document (2nd chapter) covers the Directives on Medical Devices, the Directive on Construction Products, the Directive on Machinery, the Directive on Medicinal Products and the Directive on Motor Vehicles (translations will be available at a later stage).
Specific questions about the relationship between the GPSD and sector Directives or other comments can be sent by email to: Sanco-unit-B3@ec.europa.eu
Other related legislation
The Directive on dangerous imitations prohibits the marketing, import and manufacture of products that look like foodstuffs but that are not in fact edible.
Directive (87/357/EEC) applies to products which are not edible, but could easily be confused with foodstuffs by their appearance, smell or packaging. Member States must carry out checks to ensure that no such products are marketed. If a Member State bans a product under the terms of this Directive, it must inform the Commission and provide the details needed to inform the other Member States.
Some examples of food-imitating products against which the Member States have taken measures:
The soaps, candles and other decorative articles on the pictures below are all food-imitating and as a consequence pose a risk of choking, poisoning or perforation of the digestive tract, in particular to young children, because they can be mistaken for food and be sucked or ingested given their shape, colour, appearance and size.
In these cases, the main corrective measure taken by the national authorities (or sometimes on a voluntary basis by the producer or distributor) to prevent the risk to consumers has been the withdrawal of the food-imitating products from the market.
Directive 87/357/EEC on dangerous imitations prohibits the marketing, import and manufacture of products that look like foodstuffs but that are not edible.
Source: European Commission
