GPSR EU Representatives: Who Can Represent Your Business Under GPSR?

[@chattyjo1]

What if you closed down your business before that 10 year rule due to illness or retiring does that mean you have to keep paying for a run rep up to that 10 year point or just that you keep the information available yourself upon request even though said business is no longer operating?

[@NicolaSmithOnline]

Great question. As my knowledge stands now, I'd say yes.

[@donnabass1981]

I am a diamond painting pen turner. I make one of a kind works of art that people use to do a craft called Diamond painting. What kind of lawyer should I find to help me comply

[@NicolaSmithOnline]

You don’t need a lawyer, you need to find a good EU Representative (based in the EU) and they will be able to help you with your documentation etc.

[@philmophlegm]

I appreciate that you're mostly advising manufacturers here, but is there any chance you could do a similar video for UK-based retailers exporting into the EU&NI? We're a small (two people) online retailer with something like 10,000-20,000 different individual product lines for sale from our website. We sell roleplaying games (Dungeons & Dragons and similar games) and related accessories. 90%+ of our stock is books, with the rest being stuff like dice, miniature figures and the odd board game. A lot of it is secondhand. Some of it is new and published by big companies, some of it is new and made by tiny companies who I doubt will pay for an EU representative. I'm not sure what our responsibilities are as a retailer (or 'distributor' as I think it is called), and I'm unclear as to how we would work with a representative when we have so many product lines.

[@NicolaSmithOnline]

Wow - now that's a lot of product lines. I've decided to do a video walk through of the full regulations... I've just recorded the first part. I have no idea how long it will take. I'll make sure the section relating to distributors is clear - so watch this space!

[@philmophlegm]

@@NicolaSmithOnline Thanks!

[@NicolaSmithOnline]

Hi, ok so a few things - but please remember I am not a lawyer but I have now read the regulations all the way through, As the distributor selling into EU - the EU Rep is your responsibility not the manufacturers. As distributor your obligation is to "the distributor should only be required to perform factual verifications and not an assessment of the information provided by them." It's your responsibility to ensure that while it is in your care you do not jeopardise the safety. If you believe it not to be safe, it is your responsibility to not place it on the market. And also to report if you discover there is a problem. It is also your responsibility to have a EU rep - and to include your details and there details with each product. The documentation you need to prove safety is the documentation available from the manufacturer. You might find Article 51 interesting: "Article 51 Transitional provision Member States shall not impede the making available on the market of products covered by Directive 2001/95/EC which are in conformity with that Directive and which were placed on the market before 13 December 2024. Products listed before need to comply with the previous directive - and you need to Multiple time the regulations refers to understanding issues for SMEs. The first review (in 5 years!) specifically mentions reviewing impact on SMEs too. How you bring all this together for your full product line, isn't clear to me yet - but the regulations refer to product categories, so maybe there is a way around that way for collating information? It may be worth booking a call with a company offering EU Rep services to see what documentation they would require you to have for your products/categories?