EU GPSR Online Marketplace Obligations

A provider of an online marketplace is treated as an intermediary service using an online interface that lets consumers conclude distance contracts with traders for product sales. If that model is in scope, the marketplace should not treat GPSR as only a seller documentation issue.

Article 22 requires two operational contact routes: one single point of contact for direct electronic communication with Member State market surveillance authorities on product-safety issues, and one single point of contact that enables consumers to communicate directly and rapidly about product-safety issues. The marketplace must also register with the Safety Gate Portal and provide the authority contact point information there.

Classify the service product by product. A business that only intermediates a trader's sale can be a marketplace provider, while the same business can also be a distributor for products it sells, a manufacturer for own-brand products, or a fulfilment service provider when its activities meet that definition. Record each role separately because Article 22 does not replace the economic-operator duties attached to the additional role.

Marketplaces need a receiving and action process for authority orders about dangerous-product offers. Article 22 requires providers to receive and process orders to remove content, disable access, or display an explicit warning, and to act without undue delay and in any event within two working days after receipt.

Separate from authority orders, product-safety notices received under the Digital Services Act notice route must be processed without undue delay and in any event within three working days. The marketplace also has to use at least the Safety Gate Portal for product-safety due diligence and take regular Safety Gate information into account for voluntary detection, removal, disabling, or warning measures.

The marketplace interface must let traders provide the GPSR product-safety information required for each listing, and it must display or otherwise make that information easily accessible to consumers. Terms of service alone do not meet this interface and data obligation.

At minimum, the listing flow needs fields for manufacturer name, registered trade name or trademark, postal and electronic contact address, EU responsible person information where the manufacturer is not established in the Union, product identification including a picture, product type and other identifier, and warnings or safety information in the language required for the Member State where the product is made available.

When a marketplace has actual knowledge of a product-safety recall, it must directly notify affected consumers who bought the product through its interface and publish recall information on the online interface. When information has to be brought to consumers' attention to ensure safe use, it must directly notify affected consumers of the safety warning. Where not all affected consumers can be contacted directly, GPSR Articles 35 and 36 require a clear and visible recall notice or safety warning through appropriate channels.

Marketplace cooperation uses different triggers for dangerous products and accidents. If the provider has actual knowledge that a dangerous product was offered through its interface, it must immediately notify the affected Member State authorities through the Safety Business Gateway. If the provider is informed of an accident caused by a marketplace product that resulted in serious risk or actual consumer health or safety damage, it must notify through the Gateway without undue delay and inform the manufacturer. It must also pass relevant accident or safety information to the traders and economic operators concerned without delay.