Dealing with the General Product Safety Regulation

The General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR) is the new EU framework for consumer product safety, setting stricter requirements for technical documentation, traceability, post-market surveillance and supply chain accountability.

For manufacturers, importers, distributors and online marketplaces, compliance means maintaining the documentation and evidence needed throughout the product lifecycle. ProductIP provides one central place to manage technical documentation, supplier collaboration and compliance evidence, helping you stay GPSR-ready at every stage.

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From GPSD to GPSR

What changed compared to the old rules

The General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR) is the EU legislation that sets out the safety requirements all consumer product sold in Europe must meet. It replaced the General Product Safety Directive (GPSD) per December 2024. It is also expanding the rules to cover software, connected products and digital products. It places clearer responsibilities on everyone in the supply chain, not just manufacturers.

It also shifts organisations away from a one-off compliance check before placing a product on the market towards a continuous Product Compliance Management System (PCMS) approach. Product compliance has to be actively managed throughout the full lifecycle.


Traceability has been tightened. An electronic address is required in addition to the name and postal address of the manufacturer. If the manufacturer is not located in the EU, that obligation apples to the EU-based Authorised Representative (Responsible Person).

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Who does GPSR apply to?

GPSR applies to any organisation that places consumer products on the European market or plays a role in making them available. That includes:
  • Manufacturers.
  • Private label retailers.
  • Importers.
  • Fulfilment service providers.
  • Online marketplaces.
Compliance is no longer solely the manufacturer’s responsibility. Every organisation in the supply chain is expected to understand its obligations and contribute to product safety. That makes GPSR relevant beyond compliance and quality teams. Product safety is no longer a one-time compliance exercise. It requires a Product Compliance Management System (PCMS) that connects procurement, operations, legal and senior leadership.
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What documentation does the GPSR require?

GPSR technical documentation requirements

GPSR strengthens the obligation that companies can demonstrate how product safety decisions were made. Companies may need to provide evidence showing not only that a product is safe, but also how product safety is managed over time.

This may include evidence of:
  • How risks were identified and assessed.
  • What safety measures were implemented.
  • How technical documentation is maintained.
  • How incidents are monitored.
  • How corrective actions are managed.
  • How post-market surveillance is organised.
For many non-harmonised consumer products, technical files have historically received less attention than products covered by specific CE marking legislation. GPSR changes that practice. Companies are required to demonstrate how risks were assessed, what evidence supports their conclusions and how product safety is monitored throughout the product lifecycle. In practice, this requires more than a collection of documents. It requires a structured Product Compliance Management System (PCMS) that connects risk assessments, technical documentation, corrective actions and post-market surveillance.
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PPWR Is not a new starting point

How ProductIP helps you get your documentation right

Where does GPSR affect your organisation?

To understand the practical implications of new regulations, you analyse them using the ProductIP PAWS framework. PAWS identifies where legislation impacts operations by looking at four areas:
  • Product.
  • Artwork.
  • Workflow.
  • Supply Chain.
This method helps organisations quickly identify where operational changes are required and which teams need to be involved. Regulations rarely change products. They change the way organisations manage information, evidence and collaboration.
Product
GPSR expands the way product safety risks should be considered. Products are no longer viewed as static physical objects. Software updates, connected functionality and changing product behaviour can all influence safety after a product has been placed on the market. As a result, organisations may need to assess a broader range of risks and ensure that product safety evaluations remain relevant throughout the product lifecycle.
Artwork
GPSR increases the importance of clearly identifying the responsible economic operator. Packaging, labelling and product information may need to identify the manufacturer, importer or other responsible economic operator within the European Union. This makes product information an increasingly important part of the overall compliance process.
Workflow
For many organisations, the biggest impact of GPSR will be on internal processes. The regulation requires following procedures for risk assessments, technical documentation, incident handling and post-market surveillance. As a result, organisations need a structured way to collect, maintain and update compliance information, ensuring that product safety decisions remain supported by evidence throughout the product lifecycle.

How we help you guarantee product safety

One place for all your compliance information

Many organisations already have the information needed to support GPSR compliance. The challenge is that this information is often spread across suppliers, departments and disconnected systems. The GPSR exposes the limitations of managing product compliance through spreadsheets, emails and disconnected systems. As compliance expectations increase, organisations need a structured way to manage documentation, evidence and supplier collaboration throughout the product lifecycle.
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A Product Compliance Management System (PCMS) for modern compliance

Why organisations use ProductIP for GPSR compliance

ProductIP helps organisations operationalise compliance through a Product Compliance Management System (PCMS). Companies use ProductIP to:
  • Organise technical documentation.
  • Structure risk assessments.
  • Collect supplier evidence.
  • Manage documentation updates.
  • Support post-market surveillance workflows.
  • Maintain product-specific compliance records.
  • Manage compliance across large product portfolios.
By bringing compliance information, documentation and supplier collaboration together in one platform, organisations can demonstrate control over product safety throughout the product lifecycle.
Understanding the regulation in detail

Learn more about GPSR

For a deeper explanation of the General Product Safety Regulation and related compliance requirements, visit our regulatory knowledge base:
Discover ProductIPedia

Frequently asked questions about PPWR packaging compliance

No. Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) data is useful, but it is not enough on its own.

Under the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), packaging needs a technical file and a Declaration of Conformity. That requires more than reporting data. You need structured packaging information, reusable datasets, component-level visibility and evidence for topics such as recyclability and recycled content. EPR data can support this process. It cannot replace a structured packaging compliance file.

PPWR turns packaging into a regulated product layer. That means you may need data from parties you do not actively manage today. Think of packaging manufacturers, printers, fillers, converters, raw material suppliers, wholesalers and co-packers. You are not just adding documents. You are adding operational relationships. That is why supplier data collection is becoming a real challenge. It includes supplier onboarding, evidence updates, packaging changes and market-specific requirements.

Many organisations still think PPWR can be managed with questionnaires, spreadsheets, declarations and annual updates. That is not enough. PPWR creates an operational data challenge. Packaging data needs to move from PDFs to structured data. You need reusable datasets, component-level visibility and connected evidence. The scale grows fast when you multiply this across SKUs, packaging layers, suppliers, markets and update cycles.

Yes. Packaging should be managed as a separate technical file. It has its own compliance evidence, its own risk assessment, its own supply chain partners and its own Declaration of Conformity. That means packaging should no longer be handled only as a question inside a product technical file. A packaging technical file can still be connected to the product technical file, for example through a Bill of Material. But the compliance structure needs to be separate.

Often, yes. Important packaging data may sit beyond your first-tier supplier. For example, with vendors, converters, raw material suppliers or other supply chain partners. For private label packaging, this can mean that suppliers and their vendors need to work together on packaging files. Without this visibility, it becomes harder to verify evidence, risk assessment data and packaging claims.

Yes. ProductIP supports packaging as a dedicated compliance topic. You can create technical files for packaging and generate a Declaration of Conformity. You can also work with suppliers through Document Request or File Request workflows. A lighter start is possible too. You can collect supplier declarations and generate a Declaration of Conformity without using the full Verifeyer Risk Assessment workflow.

Do you want to use the PPWR smart form for risk assessment and EPR data collection? Then the PPWR module can be activated separately. Contact ProductIP to discuss the right setup for your organisation.

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GPSR is changing how organisations manage product safety. The challenge is not simply understanding the regulation. It’s building the processes, documentation and supplier collaboration needed to demonstrate compliance.