EU General Product Safety Directive (GPSD) Gets an Update

Fanling, Hong Kong, December 11, 2015 — /EPR NETWORK/ — The list of standards for demonstrating presumption of conformity with the GPSD has been published. This list includes a number of standards published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) for the first time.

Standards for Otherwise Unregulated Product Categories

The General Product Safety Directive 2001/95/EC (GPSD) (1) is an important piece of legislation in demonstrating presumption of conformity for certain product categories where there is no specific European regulation.

In January 2015, the European Union (EU) published Commission Communication (2) 2015C 014/03 harmonizing a number of standards for demonstration of compliance with the GPSD. That list of standards was further amended by:

– Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2015/1320 (3) to withdraw certain standards from the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU).
– Commission Decision (EU) 2015/681 (4) to include certain standards for bicycles by publication in the OJEU.

New Commission Communication 2015/C 3335/01

On 9 October 2015, the EU published Commission Communication 2015/C 335/01 (5) announcing the list of standards for presumption of conformity under the GPSD. The list includes a number of standards published in the OJEU for the first time. Highlights of these standards are summarized in Table 1 (http://www.sgs.com/en/Our-Company/News-and-Media-Center/News-and-Press-Releases/2015/10/SafeGuardS-17515-EU-Updates-List-of-Standards-for-General-Product-Safety-Directive.aspx) of the latest Safeguards bulletin.

References:

(1) European Commission – General Product Safety Directive (GPSD) (http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/consumers_safety/product_safety_legislation/general_product_safety_directive/index_en.htm)

(2) Safeguards: Consumer Goods and Retail Newsletter – EU Updates List of Standards under General Product Safety Directive – January 2015 (http://newsletter.sgs.com/eNewsletterPro/uploadedimages/000006/sgs-safeguards-01815-eu-updates-standards-product-safety-directive-a4-en-15.pdf)

(3) Safeguards: Consumer Goods and Retail Newsletter – EU Withdraws Certain Standards from the General Product Safety Directive – 17 August 2015 (http://www.sgs.com/en/Our-Company/News-and-Media-Center/News-and-Press-Releases/2015/08/SafeGuardS-14315-EU-Withdraws-Certain-Standards-from-the-General-Product-Safety-Directive.aspx)

(4) Safeguards: Consumer Goods and Retail Newsletter – EU Updates List of Standards for Bicycles under General Product Safety Directive – May 2015 (http://newsletter.sgs.com/eNewsletterPro/uploadedimages/000006/sgs-safeguards-07915-eu-updates-bicycles-general-product-safety-directive-a4-en-15.pdf)

EUR-Lex – Official Journal of the European Union, Commission communication in the framework of the implementation of the Directive 2001/95/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 3 December 2001 on general product safety – 9 October 2015 (http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=OJ:JOC_2015_335_R_0001)

About SGS Hardgoods Services
Throughout its global network of laboratories, SGS is able to provide a range of services, including analytical testing and quality and safety management (http://www.sgs.com/en/Consumer-Goods-Retail/Hardgoods/DIY-Tools-and-Hardware/Product-Risk-Assessment/Quality-and-Safety-Management.aspx), for consumer products to comply with the GPSD for the EU and international markets.

Please do not hesitate to contact an SGS representative for further information.

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Contact-Details: SGS Consumer Testing Services
Hing Wo Tsang
Global Toys and Juvenile Products
Information and Innovation Manager
SGS Hong Kong Limited
Fanling, N.T., Hong Kong, China

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