The law is perpetually in a state of flux which makes it easy to miss little changes that can have quite an impact. A case in point is the EU’s General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR) that came into effect last December (2024).
Many will have dismissed it thinking that, because the UK left the European Union in 2020, this piece of legislation was irrelevant and doesn’t 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 one part of the United Kingdom – Northern Ireland – and for some based on the mainland, especially small firms, they’ve had to rethink the value and merit of exporting to and selling in the country (and Europe as a whole).
And this is all the result of legislation that was 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 good 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.
And it appears that, worryingly, some only found about the GPSR from social media just before it came into effect.
There are concerns about its impact. Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), for example, reckons that that “GPSR will be a real barrier to international trade for some of our small firms.” The FSB thinks believes while there is UK government guidance, small firms will be faced with added complexity and cost in exporting – cost which will be passed on to firms and therefore the end customer.
New requirements
The GPSR changes the landscape for those exporting to the EU in a number of ways.
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’s cost will effectively kill off some UK trade into the European Union; large manufacturers will cope, but niche producers will struggle.
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, this new legislation is different, and it’s that divergence that is causing headaches in the UK and elsewhere.
There are, however, 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 and certainly not automotive.
Notably, the rules only apply to new products launched from 13 December 2024; existing items are exempt.
What this means for automotive
RMS Motoring, a motoring forum in Northern Ireland, features one particular post from December 2024 with 94 comments on the subject. Notably an admin commented that few knew about the change, another said that he’d had messages from suppliers stating that supply from the mainland to Northern Ireland would cease, one more referred to confusion over used car parts supply, and another reporting worries over a delayed ECU that might cross the legislative date threshold.
The IAAF posted a bare bones comment about the GPSR mid-January and promised guidance “shortly.” At the time of writing that doesn’t seem available.
As for manufacturers, BM Catalysts is one firm that has taken steps to comply. Its website features a GPSR statement outlining that its products are compliant, that a risk assessment has been carried out on products sold but which are not GPSR approved, and that all products are traceable. The company has its own office in Dublin.
Elsewhere, Moss Europe has opened an office in France and its website features contact details and nothing else. And Burnley-based Zaustwork has also taken steps to comply but instead of opening an office, it’s appointed an EU-based representative company from Estonia.
Is this it for good?
The obvious question, given the bureaucracy, is whether the stage is set for good?
Possibly not, thinks bestforbritain.org. It says that the UK 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 previously outlined by the UK Trade and Business Commission in its 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.
Irrespective of the reader’s political standpoint on Brexit, it appears that the UK is now on the outside looking in and having to play by the EU’s rules without any influence or benefits. And it all looks like an unnecessary pickle to be in.
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