Since 13 December 2024 a case cannot be placed on the EU market at all unless somebody established in the Union is responsible for it. Not somebody who imports it. Somebody who is named, reachable, and accountable for it.
That party is not the factory, and it cannot be, for the same reason a Chinese factory cannot hold a US Children’s Product Certificate. The regulation says where the party has to be established.
What the regulation actually says
Regulation (EU) 2023/988 on general product safety replaced the old directive. Article 52 states that it shall apply from 13 December 2024.
The operative sentence is Article 16(1). A product covered by the Regulation shall not be placed on the market unless there is an economic operator established in the Union who is responsible for the tasks set out in Article 4(3) of Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 in respect to that product.
Source: Regulation (EU) 2023/988, EUR-Lex, checked as of August 2026.
Read that as a gate rather than a paperwork step. Without that party in place, the product is not allowed on the market. Everything else in the file comes after.
What the responsible person actually has to do
Article 16(2) goes further than a mailbox. The economic operator has to regularly check that the product complies with the technical documentation referred to in Article 9(2), and that it complies with the requirements in Article 9(5), (6) and (7). On request from market surveillance authorities, they provide documentation.
Which means the role cannot be filled by somebody who has never seen the product. Whoever takes it needs the technical file and needs it to be current.
The technical file, and who builds it
Article 9(2) requires the manufacturer, before placing the product on the market, to carry out an internal risk analysis and draw up technical documentation containing at least a general description of the product and its essential characteristics relevant for assessing its safety.
Where the risks warrant it, the file also has to contain an analysis of the possible risks and the solutions adopted to eliminate or mitigate them, including the outcome of any test reports, plus the list of the European standards or other elements applied to meet the general safety requirement. Where a standard was only partly applied, the parts applied have to be identified.
Article 9(3) sets the retention period. The documentation stays at the disposal of market surveillance authorities for ten years after the product was placed on the market.
Ten years is longer than most supplier relationships. That is the argument for the brand holding the file rather than assuming the factory still has it.
The parts that land on the product itself
This is where GPSR stops being a legal question and becomes an artwork question.
Identification. Article 9(5) requires a type, batch or serial number or other element enabling identification of the product, easily visible and legible for consumers, or on the packaging or an accompanying document where the product does not allow it.
Contact details. Article 9(6) requires the manufacturer’s name, registered trade name or registered trade mark, and their postal and electronic address, plus the address of the single contact point where different. Note the word electronic. A postal address alone is not compliant.
Instructions and safety information. Article 9(7) requires clear instructions and safety information in a language easily understood by consumers, as determined by the Member State where the product is made available.
All three land on the product, its packaging, or an accompanying document. Which means they are decided when the artwork and the carton spec are decided, not when the container is loaded.
What this changes on the drawing
Three practical consequences for a luggage program going to the EU.
The marking area has to exist. A batch number and a full set of contact details need a place on the case or the carton. On an aluminum shell that is a marking operation, and marking operations belong on the drawing.
Language is a per country decision. Instructions in one language do not cover a range sold across several Member States. Decide the language set before the insert is printed.
Batch identification has to be traceable back to production. A number that identifies nothing is compliant in form and useless in a recall, which is the situation the requirement exists for.
What we do and what we do not
We are not established in the Union, so we cannot be your responsible person under Article 16. Any supplier telling you otherwise has not read where the Regulation says that party must be established.
What we can do is supply the inputs the file is built from, and apply the marking, batch identification, and inserts to your artwork on the product and the carton.
Our minimum is 300 units per design, and smaller test batches are negotiable rather than refused. Sampling runs 7 to 15 days per round and bulk is 45 days from a confirmed sample.
We do not supply a technical file as a finished document, because the risk analysis in Article 9(2) belongs to whoever is placing the product on the market. We can give you what we know about the construction, the materials, and any testing that has been done on our side.
Two neighboring regimes matter for the same range. Great Britain diverged from this one in December 2024, set out in UK product safety after the 2024 split, and chemical content runs on a separate track under REACH and the Candidate List.
Frequently asked questions
Can our Chinese factory be our EU responsible person under GPSR?
No. Article 16(1) requires an economic operator established in the Union. A factory outside the EU cannot fill the role regardless of how long you have worked together. The role is usually taken by the importer, and where there is no EU importer it has to be an authorized representative or fulfilment service provider established in the Union.
What has to be printed on the product or the box?
A type, batch or serial number or other identifying element under Article 9(5), the manufacturer name or trade mark with postal and electronic address and single contact point under Article 9(6), and instructions and safety information in a language determined by the Member State under Article 9(7). All three can sit on the packaging or an accompanying document where the product itself cannot carry them.
How long does the technical documentation have to be kept?
Ten years after the product was placed on the market, under Article 9(3), available to market surveillance authorities on request. That outlasts most supplier relationships, which is why the brand should hold its own copy rather than rely on the factory retaining one.
Written by James
James works at aluvox.com in Houjie, Dongguan. Regulatory references on this page were checked against the official sources linked above in August 2026. This is not legal advice and the current official text governs.
