Navigating GPSR
As of 13th December 2024, a new EU regulation, the General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR), will come into effect. This regulation aims to enhance product safety across the EU market. While this is a positive step towards ensuring consumer safety, it presents significant challenges for micro and small businesses.
The GPSR introduces a wide range of new compliance requirements, including:
- Economic Operator (EO) Responsibilities: Businesses will need to designate an EU-based EO to oversee product safety and compliance.
- Market Surveillance: Increased scrutiny from authorities to ensure products meet safety standards.
- Documentation and Record-Keeping: Stricter requirements for maintaining documentation related to product safety and risk assessments.
- Product Safety Assessments: More rigorous assessments to identify and mitigate potential risks.
For micro and small businesses, complying with these new regulations can be a daunting task. It requires significant time, resources, and expertise. Additionally, the costs associated with meeting these requirements can be substantial, especially for businesses with limited budgets. Not forgetting the requirement of an EU-based EO.
Our Decision to Pause Sales to Customers in the EU and Northern Ireland
Given the complexities and costs associated with complying with GPSR, we have made the incredibly difficult decision to temporarily pause sales of our products to EU/EEA countries, including Northern Ireland from 8 December 2024. This decision was not made lightly, but it is necessary to ensure the sustainability of our business.
We understand that this may disappoint our EU/EEA and Northern Ireland customers, and we apologise for any inconvenience this may cause. We believe that this is the only course of action for our business currently.
We will continue to monitor the situation closely and explore potential options for resuming EU/EEA and Northern Ireland sales in the future.
We appreciate your understanding and support.
Storigraphic team.
