GPSR checklist for a UK online shop selling to Northern Ireland or the EU: what each listing must show, with a block to copy

If your checkout delivers to Northern Ireland or any EU country, the EU's General Product Safety Regulation has applied to those sales since 13 December 2024. It asks for two things a small British shop may not have: a named responsible person established in the EU or Northern Ireland, and four pieces of information on the listing itself.

Which sales are covered

The regulation is Regulation (EU) 2023/988. Article 52 says it applies from 13 December 2024. GOV.UK's guidance says it "applies directly in respect of Northern Ireland" from the same date. In England, Scotland and Wales the General Product Safety Regulations 2005 remain the law, so a shop that delivers only within Great Britain is not dealing with this regulation.

Article 4 is the test for an online shop. A product offered online counts as made available on the market "if the offer is targeted at consumers in the Union", and an offer is targeted if the seller "directs, by any means, its activities to one or more Member States". A shipping zone for Ireland or Germany at checkout does that.

Article 2 leaves out food, feed, medicines, living plants and animals, and antiques. Everything else is in, "whether new, used, repaired or reconditioned". Goods with their own EU safety law, such as toys and electricals, follow that law first.

Who the manufacturer is

Article 3 defines the manufacturer as anyone who "manufactures a product or has a product designed or manufactured, and markets that product under that person's name or trademark". A maker selling her own candles is the manufacturer. So is a shop that has goods made and sells them under its own brand. A shop reselling another firm's branded goods is a distributor, and its listing still has to show the manufacturer's details.

What the manufacturer must hold and print

Article 9 sets four duties:

• A risk analysis and technical documentation "containing at least a general description of the product and its essential characteristics relevant for assessing its safety", done before the product goes on sale.
• That documentation kept for 10 years after the product was placed on the market.
• A "type, batch or serial number or other element enabling the identification of the product" on the product, or on its packaging or an accompanying document where the size or nature of the product does not allow it.
• The manufacturer's name, postal address and electronic address on the product, or on its packaging or an accompanying document, with instructions and safety information unless the product can be used safely without them.

The responsible person

Article 16 says a product "shall not be placed on the market unless there is an economic operator established in the Union" who is responsible for it. GOV.UK's guidance puts it this way for Northern Ireland: the responsible operator "can be the manufacturer, importer, authorised representative, or a fulfilment service provider but in all cases must be established in the EU or NI".

A sole trader in Leeds is the manufacturer and is not established in either place. One route is an authorised representative, defined in Article 3 as someone established in the Union who "has received a written mandate from a manufacturer". Firms sell this as a service; we did not check their prices and quote none. An importer or fulfilment warehouse in Ireland or Northern Ireland that already handles the goods can fill the role instead.

Article 16 also says where that person's name and contact details go: "on the product or on its packaging, the parcel or an accompanying document". A line on the packing slip meets it.

The listing block

Article 19 says the offer must "clearly and visibly indicate" four things. This block carries them. Paste it into each product description and fill the brackets.

Product safety information (EU and Northern Ireland)

Manufacturer: [name or registered trade name], [full postal address], [email address]

Responsible person in the EU or Northern Ireland: [name], [full postal address], [email address]

Product: [type or model name], [batch number, serial number or SKU]

Warnings and safety information: [the wording printed on the label or leaflet, in the language of the country you are selling to]

Two notes on using it:

• The second line is required "where the manufacturer is not established in the Union". A manufacturer in Great Britain is not.
• Article 19 also asks for "a picture" of the product, which a listing with photos already has.

The checklist

1. List every country your shipping settings deliver to. If Northern Ireland or an EU country is on the list, carry on. If you mean to stop selling there, remove the zone.
2. For each product, note who the manufacturer is: you, or the brand you resell.
3. For your own products, write the risk analysis and description: what it is made of, who will use it, what could go wrong, what you did about it. Date it and keep it for 10 years.
4. Put an identifier and your name, postal address and email address on the product, its packaging or a slip in the parcel.
5. Appoint the responsible person in writing and keep the mandate. Add their details to the packing slip.
6. Paste the listing block into every listing on every channel, leaving the warnings line out where the label has none. Each marketplace handles these fields in its own way; we did not read their help pages for this guide.
7. For goods you resell, ask the supplier in writing for the manufacturer's and the responsible person's details. A product whose supplier cannot give them is one to withdraw from those countries.
8. Repeat steps 2 to 6 for each new product before it is listed.

What we did not confirm

We did not read the penalty rules. GOV.UK describes its own guidance as an overview, not a definitive guide, and tells a business unclear on its obligations to take independent legal advice. This page is general information, not legal advice.

A parcel that meets these rules still has to clear EU customs; our guide to the EU €3 customs duty on small parcels covers that cost. For the wording you owe every customer wherever they live, see the returns policy template.

Overlyft can set up an AI Listings Writer that drafts each listing from the owner's notes and the supplier's specification and never invents a material, a dimension or a certification. The owner approves every listing before it goes live.