# General Product Safety Directive 2001/95/EC: Replaced by GPSR

> The General Product Safety Directive 2001/95/EC was repealed on 13 December 2024 and replaced by the GPSR, Regulation (EU) 2023/988. What that means.

Published: 2026-09-24
Updated: 2026-09-24

Canonical page: [https://eugpsr.de/en/blog/general-product-safety-directive-2001-95-ec](https://eugpsr.de/en/blog/general-product-safety-directive-2001-95-ec)

As of **24 September 2026**, the General Product Safety Directive (GPSD, Directive 2001/95/EC) is no longer in force. It was repealed with effect from 13 December 2024 and replaced by the General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR), Regulation (EU) 2023/988, which applies directly in every EU Member State. This guide answers the common questions from the two legal texts only. It covers EU law only.

## Is the General Product Safety Directive still in force?

No. “General Product Safety Directive” is the common name for Directive 2001/95/EC of 3 December 2001 on general product safety. The GPSR repealed it with effect from 13 December 2024, together with Directive 87/357/EEC on products that appear to be other than they are, such as products that imitate food (GPSR Article 50(1)).

References to the old directive are read as references to the GPSR and to Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012, following the correlation table in the GPSR Annex (GPSR Article 50(2)).

The GPSR has been amended once, by Regulation (EU) 2024/2748 on emergency procedures. The passages quoted in this guide read the same in the consolidated text of 29 May 2026.

For an introduction to the regulation itself, read [what the GPSR is](https://eugpsr.de/en/what-is-gpsr).

## What replaced Directive 2001/95/EC?

The replacement is Regulation (EU) 2023/988, the General Product Safety Regulation. It applies from 13 December 2024, and it “shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States” (GPSR Article 52).

The directive, by contrast, worked through national laws, which Member States had to bring into force with effect from 15 January 2004 (GPSD Article 21(1)).

The core rule stayed. The directive said: “Producers shall be obliged to place only safe products on the market” (GPSD Article 3(1)). The regulation says: “Economic operators shall place or make available on the market only safe products” (GPSR Article 5). The GPSR wording names all economic operators, not only producers, and covers making products available as well as placing them on the market.

## Can products made under the old directive still be sold?

The GPSR contains a transitional rule (GPSR Article 51): Member States shall not impede the making available on the market of products that:

1. are covered by Directive 2001/95/EC,
2. conform to that directive, and
3. were placed on the market before 13 December 2024.

## Where did the old directive's rules go?

The GPSR Annex contains an official correlation table. The first two columns below are copied from it; the third is our summary.

| Directive 2001/95/EC | GPSR, Regulation (EU) 2023/988 | What it is about |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Article 1(2) | Article 2(1) and (2) | Scope of the rules |
| Article 3(1) | Article 5 | Only safe products (general safety requirement) |
| Article 3(2) | Article 7(1) | When a product is presumed to be safe |
| Article 3(3) | Article 8 | Other elements for assessing safety |
| Article 5(1), fourth subparagraph, point (a) | Article 9(5) and (6) and Article 11(3) | Product identifier; manufacturer and importer contact details |
| Article 5(1), fourth subparagraph, point (b), first sentence | Article 9(2) and (3) | Risk analysis and technical documentation |
| Article 5(2) | Article 12(1) and (3) | Distributor checks |
| Articles 6 to 9 | Article 2(2), Articles 23 and 44 | Enforcement, market surveillance, penalties |
| Article 12(1), first and fourth subparagraph | Article 26(1) and (2) | Alerts on dangerous products (directive: RAPEX; GPSR: Safety Gate Rapid Alert System) |

**Manufacturers (Article 9).** Article 9 has a predecessor in the table. The GPSR sets out in detail that manufacturers carry out an internal risk analysis, draw up technical documentation and keep it for 10 years (GPSR Article 9(2) and (3)). They put a product identifier and their name, postal and electronic address on the product, or where that is not possible, on the packaging or an accompanying document (GPSR Article 9(5) and (6)). See [what the technical documentation contains](https://eugpsr.de/en/blog/gpsr-technical-documentation-contents).

**Penalties.** Each Member State still sets its own penalties, and they must be “effective, proportionate and dissuasive” (GPSD Article 7; GPSR Article 44(1) and (2)).

## What is different under the GPSR?

The official correlation table lists no predecessor in Directive 2001/95/EC for GPSR Articles 4, 14, 16, 19, 20, 22, 36 and 37. In plain words:

| GPSR article | In brief |
| --- | --- |
| Article 4: distance sales | A product offered online is treated as made available on the EU market if the offer is targeted at consumers in the Union. |
| Article 14: internal processes | “Economic operators shall ensure that they have internal processes for product safety in place, allowing them to comply with the relevant requirements of this Regulation.” |
| Article 16: responsible person | A product covered by the GPSR may not be placed on the market unless an economic operator established in the EU is responsible for the tasks in Article 4(3) of Regulation (EU) 2019/1020. Its name, postal and electronic address go on the product, packaging, parcel or an accompanying document. |
| Article 19: online offers | The offer must clearly and visibly show the manufacturer's name, postal and electronic address; for a manufacturer outside the EU, the responsible person's name and addresses; product identification including a picture; and warnings or safety information. |
| Article 20: accidents | Manufacturers notify accidents causing death or serious adverse effects on health and safety through the Safety Business Gateway, without undue delay. |
| Article 22: online marketplaces | Among other things, marketplaces register with the Safety Gate Portal and act within two working days on authority orders about offers of dangerous products (removing them, disabling access or showing an explicit warning). |
| Article 36: recall notice | A written recall notice has the headline “Product safety recall”, plus the elements the article lists. |
| Article 37: remedies | In a product safety recall, the consumer is offered a choice of at least two of repair, replacement or refund, with a narrow exception. |

More detail: [information an online offer must show](https://eugpsr.de/en/blog/gpsr-online-sales-required-info) and the [EU responsible person](https://eugpsr.de/en/responsible-person).

## Does the GPSR require CE marking or a declaration of conformity?

Neither Directive 2001/95/EC nor the GPSR uses the terms “CE marking” or “declaration of conformity”. Those come from other, product-specific EU laws, where they apply. Where such specific EU rules with the same safety objective exist, the GPSR applies only to the risks they do not cover (GPSR Article 2(1)).

What the GPSR does contain is a presumption of safety for products that conform to relevant European standards whose references are published in the Official Journal of the EU, for the risks those standards cover (GPSR Article 7(1)(a)). The directive had the same mechanism (GPSD Articles 3(2) and 4).

## How can Grüner Baum help?

Grüner Baum GmbH, based in Oppenheim, Germany, acts as the EU-established responsible economic operator under GPSR Article 16 for manufacturers outside the EU. Before we accept a product family, we check its technical documentation, labels and online listings. Annual packages start at €249 (Starter, 1–3 accepted low-risk product families). See [our prices](https://eugpsr.de/en/pricing) or [contact us](https://eugpsr.de/en/contact).

## Frequently asked questions about the General Product Safety Directive

### Is the General Product Safety Directive 2001/95/EC still in force?

No. It was repealed with effect from 13 December 2024 (GPSR Article 50(1)) and replaced by the GPSR, Regulation (EU) 2023/988, which is directly applicable in all EU Member States.

### What is the difference between the GPSD and the GPSR?

The GPSD worked through national laws; the GPSR is directly applicable in all Member States. The correlation table lists no predecessor in the directive for GPSR Articles 4, 14, 16, 19, 20, 22, 36 and 37.

### Can products that conformed to Directive 2001/95/EC still be sold?

Under GPSR Article 51, Member States shall not impede the making available on the market of products covered by Directive 2001/95/EC that conform to it and were placed on the market before 13 December 2024.

### How are references to the repealed directive read today?

Under GPSR Article 50(2), they are read as references to the GPSR and to Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012, following the correlation table in the GPSR Annex.

### Does the General Product Safety Directive require CE marking or a declaration of conformity?

Neither Directive 2001/95/EC nor the GPSR uses the terms “CE marking” or “declaration of conformity”. Those terms come from other, product-specific EU laws, where they apply.

## Official sources

- [Regulation (EU) 2023/988 (GPSR), consolidated text of 29 May 2026](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2023/988/2026-05-29/eng)
- [Regulation (EU) 2023/988, Official Journal version](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2023/988/oj/eng)
- [Directive 2001/95/EC (repealed GPSD)](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2001/95/oj/eng)
- [European Commission GPSR guidance for businesses (C/2025/6233)](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/C/2025/6233/oj/eng)

This guide summarises the legal texts. It does not replace product-specific legal analysis or an authority decision.