Council of the EU and European Parliament: Provisional agreement on General Product Safety Regulation

The Council of the European Union and the European Parliament have provisionally agreed on a regulation on general product safety. This regulation updates the current rules to ensure that products sold both offline and online are safe and comply with European standards. All products traded in the EU are subject to general safety requirements. According to the Council of the European Union, the current rules on general product safety are inadequate to keep up with the challenges posed by technological digitalization and the increasing volume of goods and products sold online. They are not sufficient to cope with current digital and technological developments and challenges, it says.
The General Product Safety Regulation therefore transforms the 2001 General Product Safety Directive into a Regulation, modernizing the rules for all economic operators (manufacturers, importers and distributors) and updating them for online businesses and online marketplaces. The transformation of the Directive into a Regulation creates a solid legal framework that guarantees that products are safe and comply with European standards. More information can be found on the website of the Council of the European Union.