FAQEU

EU GPSR FAQ Recall Notices

A GPSR recall notice is the written consumer message used for a product safety recall. It must be easy to understand, visible, accessible, and specific about the recalled product, the risk, the action consumers should take, the remedy, and contact channels.

This FAQ helps check the consumer-facing notice against the EU model recall notice and keep the supporting Safety Business Gateway, Safety Gate, risk, and corrective-action evidence aligned.

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Author
Sorena AI
Published
May 9, 2026
Updated
Jul 24, 2026
Questions
4

Structured answer sets in this page tree.

Primary sources
5

Cited legal and guidance references.

Publication metadata
Sorena AI
Published May 9, 2026
Updated Jul 24, 2026
Overview

Written information for a GPSR must take the form of a recall notice. The notice should identify the recalled product, explain why it is dangerous without softening the risk, tell consumers to stop using it immediately, describe the repair, replacement, or refund remedy, and give an interactive online contact route or toll-free phone number in the relevant EU language.

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4 of 4 questions
Question 1

What must the consumer recall notice say?

Lead with what consumers need to do. A GPSR recall notice should let them decide quickly whether they own the affected product, why continued use is unsafe, what to do next, what remedy is available, and how to get help.

The EU model notice published under Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/1435 uses the structure '[company name] recalls [product]' and then separates product identification, danger, consumer action, remedies, and contact details. If product photos contain essential identification information, the same information should also appear as machine-readable text for online notices.

  • Identify the product with name, brand, batch or serial number, and where those identifiers appear on the product.
  • Add available sale details: where, when, and by whom the affected product was sold.
  • Explain the hazard and why the product is dangerous in direct language; avoid terms that reduce perceived risk, such as voluntary, precautionary, discretionary, rare, or no reported accidents.
  • Tell consumers to stop using the recalled product immediately and give the next step, such as return to the point of sale, booking a collection, or arranging a repair.
  • Describe the consumer remedies: repair, replacement, or refund, and state any additional incentive such as a voucher or discount.
  • Provide a toll-free telephone number or an interactive online service where consumers can get more information in the relevant official language or languages.

What should a GPSR recall notice include?

Include the recalled product name and brand, batch or serial identifiers, available sale details, a clear hazard explanation, an instruction to stop using the product immediately, the consumer action to take, the remedy offered, and a contact route. Online notices should not leave essential identification details only inside images; the same details should be machine-readable text.

Can a GPSR recall notice call the recall voluntary or precautionary?

Avoid that wording in the consumer notice. The EU model notice says not to use terms or expressions that may decrease consumers' perception of the risk, including voluntary, precautionary, discretionary, rare, or statements that no accidents have been reported.

Citations
Question 2

How should the notice reach consumers?

The GPSR starts with direct notification: economic operators and online marketplaces must notify all identifiable affected consumers directly and without undue delay, using customer data they already hold for recalls and safety warnings. Product-registration systems and loyalty programmes used for other purposes must let customers provide separate, minimum contact details for safety-only messages.

When not all affected consumers can be contacted directly, the notice must be clear and visible through other appropriate channels with the widest possible reach. Official source examples include the company website, social media channels, newsletters, retail outlets, and, where appropriate, mass media or other communication channels. Information must be accessible to persons with disabilities.

  • Use direct email, account, product-registration, marketplace, or loyalty-programme contact data where the affected consumer can be identified.
  • Publish the same core recall message on channels consumers are likely to see, instead of hiding it in a support article or legal notice.
  • Keep the wording, product identifiers, remedy, and contact route consistent across the company recall page, marketplace notices, customer support scripts, and authority-facing records.
  • If an online marketplace has actual knowledge of the recall, align its consumer notice and product listing actions with the GPSR marketplace duties.
Citations
Question 3

What corrective action and remedy evidence should sit behind the notice?

The public notice should be short enough for consumers, but the recall record behind it should show why the message, remedy, and action are complete. Keep the product risk assessment, test or visual inspection evidence, affected-product identifiers, quantity and market scope, action owner, action status, and consumer remedy rationale with the final notice text.

For a recall from consumers, distinguish recall from . The Safety Business Gateway manual repeats the GPSR distinction: recall aims at the return of a product already made available to the consumer, while withdrawal aims to prevent a product in the supply chain from being made available on the market.

The responsible economic operator normally must offer a choice between at least two of repair, replacement, and refund. A single remedy is allowed only when the others are impossible or would impose disproportionate costs compared with the proposed remedy, considering all circumstances and consumer inconvenience. A refund must be at least the price paid, and the consumer is entitled to one if repair or replacement is not completed within a reasonable time without significant inconvenience.

  • Retain the exact final notice copy and every translated or channel-specific version that reached consumers.
  • Keep screenshots or exports from website, marketplace, email, social, retail, and support-channel publications.
  • Record each corrective action separately when more than one action is taken, such as from the market plus recall from end users.
  • Keep the action type, scope, duration, result, and company responsible for the action with the Safety Business Gateway or authority file.
  • Offer a choice between at least two of repair, replacement, and refund. If only one remedy is offered, document why the other remedies are impossible or disproportionate and why the available remedy does not cause significant inconvenience to the consumer.
  • Do not charge return or shipping costs. Arrange collection for a non-portable product, and use consumer-performed repair only when it is easy and safe and the notice supplies the necessary instructions, free parts, or software update.
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Recommended next step

Turn the recall notice into a reusable evidence pack

Align the consumer notice, remedy decision, channel publications, Safety Business Gateway submission, and Safety Gate evidence before the recall message goes live.

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Review your recall notice, remedy evidence, authority records, and publication channels.

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Question 4

How do Safety Business Gateway and Safety Gate fit?

Do not treat the public recall notice and the authority notification as the same artifact. The recall notice is consumer-facing. The Safety Business Gateway is the submission route for economic operators and online marketplace providers notifying authorities about dangerous products or accidents when the GPSR requires notification.

After assessment by the main Member State, a Safety Gate notification may be circulated between market surveillance authorities, and selected fields may be published on the public Safety Gate portal. The Safety Business Gateway manual shows that some public Safety Gate fields can include product category, brand, model or type number, barcode, country of origin, description, photo, risk description, and action, while many business, case, quantity, accident, and supply-chain details are not public.

  • Use Safety Business Gateway records to support the authority-facing case, not as a substitute for a clear consumer recall notice.
  • Keep consumer alert wording consistent with the Gateway corrective-action record and the company or marketplace recall page.
  • Expect the public Safety Gate alert, if created, to expose selected product, risk, and action information rather than the full business submission.
  • Check Safety Gate alerts before and during recall work when marketplace providers or distributors need to identify affected products already flagged by authorities.
Citations
Primary sources

References and citations

Regulation (EU) 2023/988 on general product safety
eur-lex.europa.eu
Referenced sections
  • Article 37 supports effective, cost-free, timely remedies and the repair, replacement, or refund options referenced in the recall notice.
"effective, cost-free and timely remedy"
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