EU GPSR Responsible Person for Online Sellers

Last fact-checked: 10 November 2026.

A consumer product covered by the EU General Product Safety Regulation is not placed on the Union market unless an economic operator established in the Union is responsible for the tasks the regulation points to. An EORI number does not fill that role. This page explains the official text. It does not appoint anyone.

Regulation (EU) 2023/988, opened 10 November 2026, says it applies from 13 December 2024. Article 16(1) says a product covered by the regulation shall not be placed on the market unless there is an economic operator established in the Union who is responsible for the tasks in Article 4(3) of Regulation (EU) 2019/1020, and it applies Article 4(2) and (3) of that regulation to products covered by the GPSR. The Commission's notice 2025/C 6233, read the same day, repeats the date and says the GPSR set the framework for the safety of consumer non-food products and repealed Directive 2001/95/EC.

Division graphic for product testing questions, EU FBA inbound questions and this responsible-person page.

A spatula offered to buyers in the Union

A seller in Ohio wants to offer a Ningbo spatula to consumers in Germany, from a store and from a listing that ships inside the Union. Read Article 16 before the carton is offered, not only when it reaches a building. The notice says products that conformed to the old directive and were placed on the market before 13 December 2024 may still be made available. A new lot is not that old stock. This article is not legal advice. If another Union rule names the product, read that rule too.

The same carton sent only to Great Britain is a UK question. The United Kingdom is outside this regulation. UK customs identification is on GOV.UK's EORI page. Do not print "GPSR" on a UK-only file because the letters look official.

Graphic pointing readers to the official EUR-Lex text and the Commission notice, with the as-of date shown.

Who the notice says the responsible person is

The Commission notice, section 3.2, says the responsible person is any of the following: a manufacturer established in the EU; an importer, if the manufacturer is not established in the EU; an authorised representative with a written mandate from the manufacturer to perform the tasks; or a fulfilment service provider established in the EU for the products it handles, if none of those other operators is established in the EU. The notice says you can place the product on the market only if that person exists, and that the identification and contact details must be on the product, its packaging, the parcel, or an accompanying document.

Article 19 of the regulation, on distance sales, says the offer must indicate, where the manufacturer is not established in the Union, the name, postal address, and electronic address of the responsible person. The notice says an electronic address can be an email or a section of a site that lets the consumer contact you directly. It says a website is not enough if it does not allow that direct contact. The notice also says only the size of the product, not aesthetics, would normally justify moving required information off the product itself. Keep the notice's wording when you brief the printer in China. The dieline is the private-label first order if the spatula is your brand.

Three roles that get collapsed

Role	What the official text uses it for
Responsible person	An economic operator established in the Union, for the product-safety tasks Article 16 points to. Contact details on the product, the packaging, the parcel, or a document with it
Importer	In the notice's glossary, a person established in the EU who places a product from a third country on the EU market. The importer can be the responsible person when the manufacturer is outside the EU
EORI	The Commission's EORI page says the number is mandatory for customs operations in the EU, such as import, export, and transit. It identifies the operator. It is not the Article 16 appointment

A fulfillment center that stores your goods is not automatically the responsible person. The notice's fulfilment-service-provider row applies when no manufacturer, importer, or mandated representative established in the EU is in place, and only for the products that provider handles. Read that row before you treat a dock appointment as the appointment. The inbound itself is FBA into Europe and the UK. The listing file is Amazon product compliance. A carton count remains pre-shipment inspection.

Warning graphic that listing a China-made product for EU consumers is not the same as appointing a responsible person.

What usually goes wrong

Listing the spatula into the EU and calling the EORI the responsible person. The two official pages describe different jobs.
Printing a Chinese factory address as the only contact. Article 16 requires an economic operator established in the Union.
Putting the details only on a website the notice would not count as an electronic address, because the visitor cannot write to a person.
Assuming a UK sale is covered because the product is "for Europe." GPSR is the EU regulation. The UK EORI page is the UK identification page.

Labeling reminder limited to contact details the official GPSR text and Commission notice require on the product, packaging, parcel or an accompanying document.

Checklist before the offer goes live

Confirm the product is a consumer product covered by the GPSR, or mark that question for counsel. This page will not classify it for you.
Name the responsible person using the notice's four-way list, with a written mandate if you use an authorised representative.
Put the name, postal address, and electronic address where Article 19 and the notice say they can sit.
Keep the EORI in the customs file. Keep the responsible person in the product file.
Pause the China print until those lines are stable.
Do not hire this article. It is an explanation of the official texts, not an appointment service.

Reminder that this article explains official GPSR rules and is not an appointment service.

A Germany-bound customs path, separate from the product-safety role, is importing from China to Germany. Send the product and the member state on the RFQ if you need the sourcing file built. The regulation still has to be read by someone who will stand behind the offer.

Questions buyers actually ask

Is the importer always the responsible person?

The notice says the importer is the responsible person when the manufacturer is not established in the EU, unless an authorised representative has a written mandate to perform the tasks, or, failing those, a fulfilment service provider established in the EU handles the product. Read section 3.2 for the order. Do not skip to the warehouse.

Does my EORI satisfy Article 16?

No. The EORI page is about customs identification. Article 16 is about an economic operator established in the Union for the product. You may need both. One does not replace the other.

When did this start?

The regulation says it applies from 13 December 2024. The notice says the same, and it says conforming products placed on the market before that date under the old directive may still be made available. A new lot is a new reading. This page does not add a grace period the text does not state.

GPSR sits next to the customs clearance sequence, an EORI number, and the importer of record.

Sources

EUR-Lex: Regulation (EU) 2023/988. Opened 10 November 2026. Applies from 13 December 2024. Article 16 and Article 19.
EUR-Lex: Commission notice 2025/C 6233. Opened 10 November 2026. Who the responsible person is, and where the contact details go.
European Commission: EORI. Opened 10 November 2026. Customs identification, not the GPSR appointment.