EU GPSR FAQ Dangerous Product Risk Levels

Start with the product and hazard, not with a spreadsheet score. Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2024/3173 says the Safety Gate risk assessment describes a harm scenario: how the hazard leads to harm, how severe the harm is, and how probable it is during the product's foreseeable lifetime.

The delegated criteria use four risk results for Safety Gate purposes: serious, high, medium, and low. Where several hazards or harm scenarios exist, each scenario should be assessed and the highest resulting level should drive the Article 26 notification analysis.

The GPSR also treats some serious-risk situations differently. A serious risk can be presumed where the delegated criteria are met, including when the product is linked to probable severe harm without adequate consumer precautions or information, when the economic operator or online marketplace indicates serious risk, or when the product has been subject to recall, withdrawal, or online-content removal based on voluntary measures.

Serious risk matters because GPSR Article 26 uses Safety Gate for rapid exchange of information about corrective measures for dangerous products. The delegated Safety Gate rules classify serious-risk notifications separately from other-risk notifications and require the notification to include product identification, risk level, risk assessment, and the taken or envisaged corrective measures.

A serious-risk conclusion should therefore trigger two records at the same time: the consumer-safety action record and the notification evidence record. The first explains what will remove or reduce the risk; the second explains why the case is serious enough for Safety Gate handling and what information authorities need to identify the product and follow up.

Do not describe the risk level separately from the action. The evidence should show why the product is dangerous, which consumers or end users can be harmed, whether the product is still in listings, stock, distribution, or consumer hands, and which corrective measure is proportionate to reduce or eliminate the risk.

For a recall, the GPSR requires consumer-facing information that is clear enough for consumers to identify the product, understand the hazard, and know what action to take. The recall notice must avoid wording that lowers risk perception, such as presenting the recall as merely voluntary or precautionary when the product safety recall must be taken seriously.

Avoid making the answer look more precise than the source material. The grounded Safety Gate method supports severity, probability, serious/high/medium/low outcomes, highest-scenario handling, presumptions of serious risk, and notification evidence. It does not support an invented numeric company score, a universal matrix outside the delegated criteria, or national authority procedures not present in the grounding material.

Also avoid treating any certificate, standard, or supplier statement as conclusive by itself. It can support the risk decision only when it matches the product, hazard, affected market, and corrective measure being documented.