Germany-based EU Responsible Person service

Under the GPSR, the Responsible Person is the economic operator established in the EU that is responsible for the tasks in Article 16 and Article 4(3) of Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 for the covered product. That operator provides an accountable EU contact for product-safety documentation and authority cooperation. The precise operator and duties depend on the product, supply chain and any product-specific EU legislation that also applies.

Depending on the supply chain, the responsible economic operator can be the manufacturer established in the EU, the importer where the manufacturer is outside the EU, an authorised representative appointed by written mandate, or a fulfilment service provider when none of the preceding operators is established in the EU. The applicable route must be identified for the specific product before it is placed on the EU market.

No. Responsible Person describes the EU-established economic operator accountable for the Article 16 tasks, while an Authorised Representative is a distinct role created by a manufacturer's written mandate. An authorised representative can become the responsible economic operator when the legal conditions and mandate are satisfied, but the terms are not synonyms. An importer or, in defined circumstances, a fulfilment service provider may instead occupy the responsible role.

Article 16 requires an EU-established responsible economic operator for each covered product; it does not require a separate Responsible Person appointment in every Member State for the same product. Language, warning, online-offer and other product-specific EU or national requirements must still be checked for every market in which the product is offered.

Yes. Where the manufacturer is not established in the EU, the importer is one of the economic operators that can be responsible for the product under the Article 16 framework. The importer also has separate GPSR obligations arising from its own role, so responsibilities, document access and authority cooperation should be mapped for the particular product and supply chain instead of relying on a label alone.

For a product subject to the Article 16 requirement, a manufacturer outside the EU needs an economic operator established in the EU to be responsible before the product is placed on the EU market. That operator may already be the EU importer or may be an authorised representative appointed in writing; the correct route depends on the supply chain and any product-specific legislation that also applies.

The responsible economic operator performs the tasks referred to in Article 4(3) of Regulation (EU) 2019/1020. Article 16 also requires periodic checks concerning the product's technical documentation, identification, manufacturer details and applicable warnings or safety information, including online-offer information. The exact work depends on which economic operator occupies the role and on the product-specific mandate and legal framework.

No. The manufacturer remains responsible for product safety, the safety analysis, keeping technical documentation current and taking required corrective action. A written mandate defines the tasks accepted by an authorised representative, while an importer occupies the responsible role through a different legal route. Article 16 expressly operates without prejudice to the duties of the manufacturer and other economic operators.

The review normally starts with the product description, essential safety characteristics, any appropriate risk analysis and solutions, supporting test evidence, traceability information, labels, warnings and instructions. If separate product-specific EU legislation requires a declaration or conformity-assessment record, that material is also relevant. GPSR itself does not create a general declaration of conformity for every product, so the document set must be determined product by product.

The parties identify the manufacturer, products, supply chain and applicable legislation, then record the accepted tasks and product scope in writing. Grüner Baum GmbH reviews the available material before accepting a mandate. The service does not guarantee that a product will never face authority or marketplace action; manufacturers and other economic operators retain their own legal duties.

A manufacturer established only in Great Britain is not established in the EU. For a product covered by the GPSR and placed on the EU market, Article 16 therefore requires an EU-established responsible economic operator before placement on the market. Depending on the supply chain, that operator can be the EU importer, an authorised representative appointed in writing or, in defined circumstances, a fulfilment service provider. The correct route must be confirmed product by product.

A direct critical match receives immediate priority. Detailed review and verification are targeted within two hours, manufacturer notification by email and phone within four hours, identification of affected lots and a stop-sale assessment within 24 hours, and a corrective-action plan prepared with the manufacturer within 72 hours. Where a Safety Business Gateway filing is required, we support it within four business days. These are Grüner Baum operational service commitments, not statutory reporting deadlines: the applicable legal duty and deadline are assessed separately for the specific incident, economic operator and product.

Grüner Baum GmbH charges 249 EUR per year plus VAT for one accepted product family with unlimited SKUs, and 79 EUR per year for each additional family. There is no setup fee. Incident support, such as a recall or a Safety Gate case, is quoted separately. The fee buys a service mandate, not a certificate.

The Regulation governs products placed on the market of the European Union. Sellers established anywhere outside the EU are affected whenever their consumer products reach EU buyers, through a marketplace, a distributor or direct shipping. The seller's own country grants no exemption; what matters is where the product is placed on the market.

Article 2 of Regulation (EU) 2023/988 excludes defined categories, among them medicinal products, food and feed, living plants and animals, and certain other listed sectors. Where separate EU legislation already governs a product's safety, that legislation takes precedence and the GPSR applies only to the aspects it does not cover. Exclusion has to be checked against Article 2 product by product.

Regulation (EU) 2023/988 governs the EU market, while Great Britain keeps its own product safety rules. A business established only in Great Britain that places products on the EU market still needs an EU-established economic operator under Article 16. Northern Ireland follows separate arrangements, so the correct route should be confirmed per product and per destination market.

No — these are two different instruments that share an acronym. The General Product Safety Regulations 2005 (SI 2005/1803) are United Kingdom law and implemented the earlier EU General Product Safety Directive 2001/95/EC; they continue to apply in Great Britain. The EU GPSR is Regulation (EU) 2023/988, which replaced Directive 2001/95/EC and has applied across the EU since 13 December 2024. Only the EU Regulation creates the Article 16 duty to have an EU-established responsible economic operator. Northern Ireland follows separate arrangements, so the applicable rules should be confirmed per product and per destination market.

The binding text is Regulation (EU) 2023/988, published in the Official Journal of the European Union and available in every EU language on EUR-Lex, where it can also be downloaded as a PDF. The Responsible Person duties are in Article 16, and the four possible economic-operator routes are in Article 4 of Regulation (EU) 2019/1020. The European Commission's notice C/2025/6233 explains how the framework is to be applied in practice. Where a summary and the Regulation disagree, the Official Journal version governs. All three sources are linked at the bottom of this page.