The General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR) EU 2023/988, which repeals the former General Product Safety Directive, lays down essential rules on the safety of consumer products placed or made available on the market. Its objective is to improve the functioning of the internal market while providing for a high level of consumer protection.

The GPSR is already in force and will directly apply in all Member States as of 13 December 2024.

Not all the provisions of the GPSR apply to cosmetic products. Indeed, as cosmetic products are regulated under the Cosmetic Products Regulation which imposes specific safety requirements, the GPSR applies only to those aspects and risks or categories of risks which are not covered by those requirements.

In that respect, Article 19 of the GPSR, related to information to be provided in the case of online / distance sales, does apply to cosmetic products and is complementary to the requirements of the CPR and in particular of its Article 19 which establishes the on-pack labelling rules for cosmetics.

Article 19 of the GPSR mandates that any safety-related information usually provided on a product’s packaging (like ingredient lists, warnings, precautions, and safe usage instructions) must also be available on the website where the product is sold.

These warnings, precautions, and usage instructions should be presented in the official language(s) of the EU member state where the consumer resides.

Additionally, Article 19 requires that, alongside the physical address of the Responsible Person (RP), their electronic contact information (such as a website or email address) must also be displayed on the product’s sales website.

 

General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR) EU 2023/988 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2023/988/oj