New EU rules to ensure the safety of consumer products

Tomorrow, the new rules under the General Product Safety Regulation enter into application, ensuring that all non-food consumer products, sold offline or online on the EU market, are safe.
The rules also clarify the obligations for businesses and help ensuring a level-playing field. The new Directive replaces the current General Product Safety Directive  and the Food Imitating Product Directive, which will bring significant improvements for consumers and authorities.

The Regulation will better address the challenges posed by the growth of online sales and direct imports from third countries. It will guarantee a better enforcement of the rules and improve the effectiveness of recalls of dangerous products. It also brings consumers the right to remedy for unsafe products and better communication channels to report safety issues. The new rules are also expected to allow considerable savings for society and consumers, as the preventable damages from injuries and deaths caused by unsafe products amounts to €11.5 billion each year.