GPSR Labelling Requirements & Label Example (2026)
There is no single universal GPSR label template. The EU General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR) sets out which details must be on the product, which ones may move to the packaging or a document, and what your online listing must show. The right information block depends on your product and your supply chain.
Is there a mandatory GPSR label template?
No. The GPSR tells you what information to give and where it may go, but it does not prescribe one label design for every product. The right block depends on who makes and imports the product, who your EU responsible person is, how you identify the product, your risk assessment, your target countries and any product-specific law.
What information is required on a GPSR label?
The GPSR does not call every required item a “label.” It requires the following information on the product, or only in an allowed alternative place:
- Product identifier: A type, batch or serial number, or another element that identifies the product. Consumers must be able to see and read it easily.
- Manufacturer details: The manufacturer's name, registered trade name or registered trade mark, postal address and electronic address. If the single contact point is different, give that address too.
- Importer details, where there is an importer: The name or trade mark, postal address and electronic address of the importer who places the product on the EU market.
- EU responsible person: The name or trade mark, postal address and electronic address of the EU-established economic operator responsible for the product.
- Instructions and safety information, where needed: Clear information in a language consumers can easily understand. The country where the product is sold decides which language.
Warnings and pictograms depend on the product's risks and any sector rules that apply. The GPSR has no universal list of warning symbols for all consumer products.
Where must GPSR information appear: product, packaging or document?
Each type of information has its own placement rule. You cannot switch to the packaging just because marking the product is inconvenient.
| Required information | When it applies | Where it goes | Fallback or condition |
|---|---|---|---|
| Product type, batch, serial number or another identifier | Products within scope | On the product | Only if the product's size or nature does not allow it: on the packaging or in an accompanying document |
| Manufacturer name or trade mark, postal address and electronic address | Products within scope | On the product | If it cannot be placed on the product: on the packaging or in an accompanying document |
| Importer name or trade mark, postal address and electronic address | When an importer places the product on the EU market | On the product | If that is not possible: on the packaging or in an accompanying document. An extra label must not cover manufacturer information required by EU law. |
| Responsible person's name or trade mark, postal address and electronic address | Products that need an EU responsible person | On the product, packaging, parcel or an accompanying document | Any one of these four places is enough |
| Clear instructions and safety information | When the product cannot be used safely as intended without them | Supplied with the product | In a language consumers can easily understand, as decided by the country where it is sold |
| Manufacturer, non-EU manufacturer's responsible person, product identification and applicable warnings | Online or other distance-sale offers | In the offer, clearly and visibly | A QR code or download alone is not enough |
Can a QR code replace physical GPSR information?
No. The GPSR lets you offer the label details additionally in digital form, for example through a QR code. A QR code can add information, but it does not remove the rules for the product, packaging, parcel or accompanying document.
Your online listing is a separate duty: the required information must be clear and visible in the offer itself. A QR code or downloadable document alone is therefore not a substitute for the visible online information.
When is EU Responsible Person information required?
A product covered by the GPSR may not be placed on the EU market unless an economic operator established in the EU is responsible for it. Depending on your supply chain, this can be the EU manufacturer, the importer, an authorised representative with a written mandate, or, under certain conditions, a fulfilment service provider. So it is not always a separate service you have to buy.
The product, packaging, parcel or accompanying document must show this operator's name or registered trade name or trade mark, plus its postal and electronic address.
An EU Responsible Person does not “approve” your product as safe and does not take over the manufacturer's duties. The manufacturer stays responsible for product safety, risk analysis, technical documentation, traceability, and instructions and warnings.
What must appear in an online product offer?
Your online listing, or any other distance-sale offer, must show at least:
- The manufacturer's name or trade name, postal address and electronic address.
- If the manufacturer is outside the EU, the responsible person's name, postal address and electronic address.
- Product identification: a picture, the product type and another product identifier.
- Applicable warnings or safety information, in a language consumers can easily understand, as decided by the country where you sell.
The information must be clear and visible in the offer. A QR code, a downloadable file or the physical label alone does not meet this duty. For example, if you sell the same candle in your own web shop and on Etsy, all four items must be visible in both listings. See the detailed GPSR online sales information guide.
Which language must GPSR warnings and instructions use?
Instructions and safety information must be in a language consumers can easily understand. The Member State where the product is sold decides which language that is. This is more precise than saying that every label field must always be in one national official language.
Check the rules of each target country and any product-specific law before you launch. Some markets use more than one language, and sector rules can add language requirements.
Does GPSR require CE marking or specific pictograms?
The GPSR does not automatically require CE marking for every consumer product. CE marking and category-specific symbols apply only when separate EU legislation requires them. Toys, electrical equipment, cosmetics and chemical products can therefore need additional information under their own rules.
A chemical hazard pictogram, for example, comes from the rules on classifying and labelling chemicals; it is not a universal GPSR symbol. Assess the product-specific law and the GPSR together. Use the warning and pictogram guide to separate risk-based warnings from category-specific symbols.
What can an illustrative GPSR information block look like?
The following block is an example of information structure, not a universal legal template:
| Field | Illustrative content | Include when |
|---|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Example Products Ltd · Street, postcode, city, country · compliance@example.com | Products within scope |
| Product identifier | Model ABC-01 · Batch 2026-09-A | Products within scope; use an identifier that links the item to its records |
| Importer | Example EU Importer GmbH · postal address · electronic address | An importer places the product on the EU market |
| EU responsible person | Name or trade mark · postal address · electronic address | Name the operator responsible for the product; it may already be the EU manufacturer or importer |
| Warnings and instructions | Product-specific wording in the required market language | Your risk assessment or product-specific law requires them |
The final content and placement depend on the product, its size and nature, the economic operators in the supply chain, the target countries and the product-specific law.
What are the most common GPSR labelling mistakes?
- Moving manufacturer information to the packaging without first checking whether placing it on the product is really impossible.
- Leaving out the electronic address of the manufacturer or the responsible person.
- Using an SKU that does not reliably link the product to its technical file or batch record.
- Showing the Responsible Person on the physical package but not in the online listing.
- Treating a generic warning or a CE mark as a substitute for a product-specific risk assessment.
- Translating the marketing copy but not providing the required warnings in a language consumers understand.
How should label revisions be recorded?
Link each label version to the exact product model, batch or serial number, risk analysis, technical documentation and online listing version. Keep the technical documentation available to authorities for 10 years after the product is placed on the market. Make sure a new label version does not break the link between the physical product and its records.
Frequently asked questions about GPSR labelling requirements
What information is required on a GPSR label?
For products in scope, you need a visible product identifier and the manufacturer's name or trade mark, postal address and electronic address. Depending on your supply chain, you also add the importer's details and the contact details of your EU responsible person. If the product needs them, include instructions and safety information.
Can GPSR information go on the packaging instead of the product?
Only where the GPSR allows it. The product identifier may move to the packaging or an accompanying document if the product's size or nature does not allow marking. Manufacturer and importer details may move there only if they cannot be placed on the product.
Must the EU Responsible Person appear in an online listing?
Yes, when the manufacturer is not established in the EU. Your listing must show the responsible person's name, postal address and electronic address clearly and visibly.
Which language must GPSR warnings and instructions use?
A language consumers can easily understand. The country where the product is sold decides which language that is. Check national and product-specific rules for each target market as well.
Can a QR code replace physical GPSR information?
No. You may offer the label details in digital form, for example through a QR code, but only in addition. The rules for the product, packaging, parcel or accompanying document still apply.
How does Grüner Baum GmbH help?
Grüner Baum GmbH, established in Germany, reviews the information chain across the product, packaging, parcel, instructions and online offer. Where a written mandate is the right way to appoint your responsible person, our EU Responsible Person service connects the agreed product scope to the supporting technical records.
You can send the product category, manufacturer location, target EU markets and current label through our assessment request form.
Official sources
| Topic | Legal basis | Official text |
|---|---|---|
| Product identifier and when it may move to the packaging | GPSR Article 9(5) | GPSR text (EUR-Lex) |
| Manufacturer name, postal and electronic address | GPSR Article 9(6) | GPSR text (EUR-Lex) |
| Importer details; extra label must not cover manufacturer information | GPSR Article 11(3) | GPSR text (EUR-Lex) |
| Instructions, safety information and their language | GPSR Articles 9(7) and 11(4) | GPSR text (EUR-Lex) |
| EU responsible person requirement and who can take the role | GPSR Article 16(1); Regulation (EU) 2019/1020, Article 4(2) | GPSR text (EUR-Lex) |
| Where the responsible person's name and addresses go | GPSR Article 16(3) | GPSR text (EUR-Lex) |
| Required information in online and distance-sale offers, language of warnings | GPSR Article 19 | GPSR text (EUR-Lex) |
| QR codes and digital information only in addition | GPSR Article 21 | GPSR text (EUR-Lex) |
| Keeping technical documentation for 10 years | GPSR Article 9(3) | GPSR text (EUR-Lex) |
| Relationship with product-specific EU law (CE marking, category-specific symbols) | GPSR Article 2(1) | GPSR text (EUR-Lex) |
| How the GPSR is applied in practice | European Commission Notice C/2025/6233 | Commission guidelines (EUR-Lex) |
This article is general information, not legal advice.
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