12 December 2024

Reminder for all UK companies selling into the Northern Ireland and EU Marketplace

There are some new requirements for businesses to better enable traceability of products placed on the EU and NI markets, particularly those sold online.

Article 4 of the Market Surveillance Regulation requires that for consumer products to be placed on the EU or NI market, an economic operator responsible for compliance must be established in the EU or NI. That obligation is expanded by Article 16 of the GPSR, which includes further obligations on responsible economic operators and widens the scope of products to which that obligation applies. The responsible economic operator can be the manufacturer, importer, authorised representative, or a fulfilment service provider but in all cases must be established in the EU or NI.

The economic operator responsible for compliance must:

• Verify documentation: Verify that the technical documentation has been drawn up and contains, as applicable an analysis of possible risks related to the product and solutions to eliminate or mitigate risks and the list of any European standards that apply to the product, including any Declaration of Conformity, or, in the absence of any relevant European Standards for such product, evidence that the product conforms to UK standards in order to meet the general safety requirement of Article 5 of the GPSR.
• Verify that the product itself has the following information on it, or in an accompanying document, a type, batch or serial number or other element enabling the identification of the product and the manufacturer’s name, registered trade name or registered trademark, its postal and electronic address and, if different, the postal or electronic address of the single contact point by which it can be contacted, in addition there must be clear instructions and safety information, unless such instructions and safety information are not required, where the product can be used safely and as intended by the manufacturer without such documentation
• Keep documentation: To keep the technical documentation at the disposal of Market surveillance authorities (MSAs) for a period of 10 years from the date the product is placed on the market and ensure that the technical documentation can be made available to those authorities upon request.
• Provide documentation: If a reasoned request is made by a MSA provide all information and documentation necessary to demonstrate the conformity of the product.
• Notify risk: If there is reason to believe a product presents a risk, immediately inform the relevant MSA.
• Cooperate: Cooperate with MSAs, including requests to take appropriate corrective action. If that is not possible, the responsible economic operator must mitigate the risks presented by the product where they believe the product presents a risk or are requested to do so by the MSAs.
• Data sharing: Notify the relevant EU MSAs of dangerous products on the market through the Safety Business Gateway.

Providers of online marketplaces are not in scope of the Market Surveillance Regulation. However, new obligations, relating to market surveillance, apply to them under the GPSR. 

Online marketplaces need to designate a single point of contact for direct communication with relevant MSAs in relation to product safety issues and register and engage with the Safety Gate Portal. This includes taking corrective action when notified via the Safety Gate Portal of instances of non-compliant products being sold or made available through its online interface. They must also designate a single point of contact to enable consumers to communicate directly and rapidly with them in relation to product safety issues.

In addition they must cooperate with MSAs to facilitate any action taken to eliminate or mitigate risks presented by a product offered online through its services. This includes abstaining from obstructing product recalls and comply with Orders / Notices issued by MSAs, within 3 working days from receipt, in relation to product safety issues. Allow MSAs access to their online interface to identify dangerous products.

They must allow MSAs, upon receiving a reasoned request, to scrape data from its online interface only for product safety purposes and immediately inform the relevant MSAs, through the Safety Business Gateway, of non-compliant products that have been made available through its online interface and have in place internal processes for product safety to comply with the relevant requirements of the Regulation.

More information is provided to members on the British Marine website or for specific guidance contact the technical team by emailing technical@britishmarine.co.uk