The law is perpetually in a state of flux, which makes it easy to miss small changes that can have a significant impact. A case in point is the EU’s General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR), which came into effect in December 2024.
Many will have dismissed it, thinking that because the UK left the European Union in 2020, this legislation is irrelevant and does not apply here. However, while Great Britain did leave the EU, Northern Ireland effectively remained within the single market for goods after withdrawal.
As a result, the GPSR applies in Northern Ireland – and for some companies based on the mainland, especially small firms, who have had to rethink the value and merit of exporting to and selling in the province.
This is all the result of legislation introduced by the EU to better protect consumers in the bloc against potentially dangerous products sold offline or online.
In essence, the GPSR applies to any consumer goods, including digital products, placed on the EU and Northern Ireland markets, even if they’re CE marked, that aren’t already subject to product-specific legislation to ensure they meet EU rules.
Worryingly, some companies only found out about the GPSR from social media just before it came into effect.
There are concerns about its impact. The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), for example, said: “GPSR will be a real barrier to international trade for some small firms.” The FSB believes that while there is government guidance, small firms will be faced with added complexity and cost in exporting.
The GPSR also changes the landscape for those exporting to the EU.
Exporters – manufacturers, importers, and distributors of products into the EU and Northern Ireland – will have to appoint a named individual within the EU or Northern Ireland who is prepared to vouch for the safety of their products and who is effectively the official point of contact for product compliance and safety issues.
This need to have someone vouch for product safety will add cost for exporters. Firms will either have to find and fund someone in the EU to be able to meet the obligations set down or sign up to a provider to do the same. That cost will effectively kill off some UK trade with the European Union.
There are also new duties and obligations in relation to risk assessments, product traceability documentation, online marketplace compliance, and labelling requirements. And all of this is backed by penalties for non-compliance.
Some will recall the General Product Safety Regulation from 2005, which followed EU law. That legislation is still in force in the UK. However, the new legislation is different, and it’s that divergence that is causing headaches in the UK and elsewhere.
However, there are a few exemptions from some or all of the rules for goods such as human and veterinary medicines, living plants and animals, animal by-products and derived products, plant protection products, and products specifically marked for repair or reconditioning. They’re not going to help many business sectors though, and certainly not automotive.
Notably, the rules only apply to new products launched from 13 December; existing items are exempt.
What can be done?
Campaign group Bestforbritain.org, which says that it “aims to fix the problems Britain faces after Brexit”, suggests that the government could “use the Product Regulation and Metrology Bill to bring product safety regulation in Great Britain back into alignment with regulations in the EU and Northern Ireland, once the Bill becomes an Act.”
However, a longer-term solution would still be needed and Bestforbritain.org suggests that the government could “use the relationship reset with the EU and upcoming review of the Brexit deal to agree to a general policy of beneficial regulatory alignment between the EU and UK.”
This idea was outlined by the UK Trade and Business Commission in a May 2023 report, Trading our way to Prosperity. It recommended that the UK aligns with EU legislation as a way of removing barriers to trade.
But doing this means, irrespective of your political standpoint on Brexit, that the UK is now on the outside looking in and having to play by the EU’s rules without any influence or benefits.
Regardless, it all looks like an unnecessary mess to be in.