GPSR regulation: importer obligations, the responsible person and penalties in Italy

SATURDAY, 7 NOVEMBER 2026

What Regulation (EU) 2023/988 requires from importers of consumer products: an EU responsible person, label details, documentation kept for 10 years, online sales, recalls and the Italian penalties in force since 16 May 2026.

The GPSR regulation is the EU law on the general safety of consumer products: since 13 December 2024 a product can only be sold in the EU if an operator established in the Union answers for it. For anyone importing from China that means a name and address on the product, technical documentation kept for 10 years and, in Italy, fines of up to 100,000 euro.

GPSR regulation: what it is and when it applies

GPSR stands for General Product Safety Regulation. It is Regulation (EU) 2023/988 of 10 May 2023, published in the Official Journal of the EU on 23 May 2023 and applicable from 13 December 2024. It replaced the old Directive 2001/95/EC on general product safety and, being a regulation, it applies identically in every Member State without transposition.

The core principle is the general safety requirement: only safe products may be placed on the market. Safety is assessed by looking at the product's characteristics, packaging, instructions, warnings, age labelling for children and the most exposed groups of consumers, such as children, older people and people with disabilities. Member States remain in charge of inspections and penalties.

Which products it covers

The regulation covers products intended for consumers, or likely to end up in their hands: new, used, repaired or reconditioned, sold in shops or online. It also includes products designed for professional use that later reach consumers.

The GPSR works as a safety net: when a product already has sector-specific EU legislation, such as toys or electrical equipment, the regulation applies to the aspects and risks that legislation does not cover. For everything without specific rules, such as backpacks, household items, promotional products, accessories and small furniture, it is the main rule.

Excluded are, among others, medicines, food and feed, live plants and animals, plant protection products, means of transport operated by a service provider, antiques and products clearly sold as needing repair or reconditioning before use.

The responsible person in the EU

The most practical change for anyone buying abroad is Article 16. A product cannot be placed on the market unless an economic operator established in the Union answers for its safety. In practice this is called the responsible person. Under Article 4 of Regulation (EU) 2019/1020, referred to by the GPSR, it can be:

• the manufacturer, if established in the Union;
• the importer, when the manufacturer is not established in the Union;
• an authorised representative, with a written mandate from the manufacturer;
• a fulfilment service provider established in the Union, for the products it handles, only if none of the above exists.

When an Italian company imports from a Chinese supplier, the role normally falls on it as importer. The responsible person must keep safety information available to the authorities, report risks, cooperate on corrective actions and periodically check that the product matches its technical documentation. Its name and contact details, including a postal and electronic address, must appear on the product, its packaging, the parcel or an accompanying document.

The importer's obligations

Article 11 lists what the importer must do. Before placing goods on the market it makes sure the product is safe and that the manufacturer has done its part: the internal risk analysis with technical documentation, the type, batch or serial number identifying the product, and the manufacturer's name and postal and electronic address.

The importer then adds its own details: name or registered trade mark and postal and electronic address, on the product or, where that is not possible, on the packaging or in an accompanying document, without covering mandatory information already placed by the manufacturer. It must provide instructions and warnings in a language consumers easily understand, which in Italy means Italian. It must ensure that transport and storage do not compromise safety and keep a copy of the technical documentation for 10 years from placing on the market.

If it has reason to believe a product does not comply, it does not put it on sale until it is fixed. If the product is dangerous it immediately informs the manufacturer and the authorities, through the EU Safety Business Gateway portal.

Online sales and marketplaces

For online sellers Article 19 adds a visible obligation: the product listing must clearly show the manufacturer's name and contact details, the name and contact details of the EU responsible person if the manufacturer is outside the EU, a picture and the type or another product identifier, and the safety warnings in the language of the country of sale. This also applies to anyone selling through a marketplace: it pays to have these details ready before uploading listings, because an offer without a responsible person is non-compliant from day one.

Incidents, recalls and customs checks

If a product causes a serious accident, with death or serious harm to health, the manufacturer notifies the authorities through the Safety Business Gateway without undue delay. Importers and distributors who learn of it inform the manufacturer at once, which may ask them to make the notification; if the manufacturer is outside the EU, the responsible person takes care of it.

In a recall, Article 37 requires a free remedy for the consumer, offering a choice of at least two options: repair, replacement with a safe product of at least the same value, or a refund at least equal to the price paid. Shipping or return costs cannot be charged to the consumer.

Checks start at the border. When customs suspect a product is unsafe they suspend release for free circulation and alert the market surveillance authority; if that authority does not ask to keep the hold within four working days, the goods are released. Release, however, does not certify compliance. The volume of checks is rising: in 2025 the EU Safety Gate alert system recorded 4,671 alerts on dangerous non-food products, the highest number since 2003 and 13% more than in 2024. About 43% concerned products of Chinese origin. By category, 36% were cosmetics, 16% toys and 11% electrical appliances, and 53% of alerts were due to chemical risks.

Penalties in Italy from 16 May 2026

The regulation leaves penalties to Member States. Italy set them with Legislative Decree no. 78 of 8 April 2026, published in Official Gazette no. 111 of 15 May 2026 and in force from 16 May, which rewrote Article 112 of the Consumer Code:

• placing dangerous products on the market: arrest from six months to one year and a fine from 10,000 to 100,000 euro, which can rise by up to half if the risk is serious;
• failure to meet information obligations or to cooperate with the authority: administrative fine from 4,000 to 40,000 euro;
• breach of the economic operator obligations in Chapter III of the regulation, which covers Articles 9-21: from 2,500 to 25,000 euro;
• failure to comply with measures ordered by the market surveillance authority: fine from 3,000 to 30,000 euro.

Administrative fines are imposed by the local chamber of commerce. A label without the importer's address or untranslated instructions therefore fall in the 2,500 to 25,000 euro band, even if the product itself is safe.

An example with numbers

A company in Bologna imports 3,000 hiking backpacks under its own brand from Ningbo, to sell at 39 euro on its website and on a marketplace. The figures below are hypothetical. Backpacks have no sector-specific EU legislation, so the GPSR applies in full and the company, as importer, is also the responsible person.

Before shipment it asks the manufacturer for the risk analysis, tests on straps and buckles and a batch number printed on the inside label. It has its company name, address and an email added to the label, and Italian warnings on the swing tag. It files the documentation until 2036. On the marketplace it fills in picture, model code, manufacturer and responsible person.

If after 400 units sold a buckle turned out to be faulty and a recall were needed, the minimum refund would be 39 euro per unit, or 15,600 euro, plus return shipping paid by the company. An inspection finding labels without an address would instead lead to a fine from 2,500 to 25,000 euro. The figures suggest where it is worth investing: in checks before production, not in handling the problem afterwards.

GPSR regulation in brief: the checklist

Before every order of consumer products from a non-EU supplier it is worth checking five points:

• who the EU responsible person is and whether their name and postal and electronic address appear on the product or packaging;
• whether the manufacturer has carried out the risk analysis and whether you hold a copy of the technical documentation, to keep for 10 years;
• whether every unit carries a readable type, batch or serial number;
• whether instructions and warnings are in Italian and whether the online listing shows the Article 19 information;
• whether there is a procedure for incidents and recalls, with notification through the Safety Business Gateway.

With La Merce, complying with the GPSR regulation means agreeing with the factory, before production, on a label with batch number and importer address, Italian instructions and technical documentation kept for 10 years, so goods are not held at customs and do not open the door to fines from 2,500 to 25,000 euro.

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