As world travelers and visitors to many EU countries ourselves: we love its beautiful places and history, and admire its modern human-centered laws. The EU’s consumer protection laws are the envy of consumers everywhere, particularly for food!
It is with particularly bittersweet sadness then that we just learned about the EU’s new General Product Safety Regulations, which are set to enact on 13 December.
If we are understanding correctly, starting very soon, we will no longer be able to sell our handmade products to you. In effect, our borders are closing.
In this post, we'll explain more about what the GPSR is, and what we can (and can't) do about it.
Table of Contents
What is the EU GPSR “in a nutshell”?
These new safety laws require manufacturers to provide more and better information on their product components and material traceability for consumer protection, and increases the regulatory burden on manufacturers worldwide for registration and labeling.
Non-EU manufacturers will also need to hire an EU "Responsible Person" or "Economic Operator" to vouch for the products. Examples recommended by eBay in the US include:
On an industrial, global scale, and as consumers who appreciate safety standards, the purpose of these laws certainly makes sense.
However, as we understand it, there is no exception for handmade, micro-business, or even custom commissions. We are considered the same as a factory in China because our products are also made for consumers.
It seems that these rules will have a negative impact on micro businesses, crafters, and makers like us, and EU customers who want to purchase unique, custom- and hand-made things.
However, we have read some discussion in marketplace forums that “existing” products may continue to be sold with a grace period until they’re “out of stock.” (?)
What is Walnut going to do about GPSR?
Unfortunately, given our small size and large number of unique products, we cannot see any way to afford compliance with the new GPSR rules going forward, once they are in effect.
Even though we stand by the quality and safety of our products and only use natural materials, we simply cannot afford the research, paperwork, legal advice, and the annual hiring cost of an EU Responsible Person / Economic Operator, which will certainly exceed the value of the products we normally sell to the EU each year.
We are currently not making any changes to our website/Etsy store since we are selling "old" stock. However, we will have to remove EU countries as "ship-to" locations at some point in the future.
We are watching and waiting for guidance from our online marketplaces and hosts (Etsy and Shopify) to see how it unfolds. We have received very little communications about this law from the businesses who support our work.
What does this mean for our friends in the EU?
We do not know what will happen after 13 December: how will EU Customs know if the products we sell are “old stock” vs “new”, particularly as a micro-business making small batches rather than factory orders? Will shipping and delivery continue as normal for a little while, or will packages get returned by Customs?
However, we do know that at some point, the grace period will end and we will no longer be able to comply. That’s why we’re writing today.
If you’ve been eyeing a purchase from Walnut, we recommend purchasing before 13 December 2024 for certainty.
We’ve even created a special site-wide 20% discount for EU customers to make things easier (GPSR-2024, good until 12/13/24) , as well as our current “bundle & save” deals.
sad
December 12, 2024
Overregulation is awful.