Amazon sellers: are you compliant with the coming Batteries and GPSR regulations?

If you’re an Amazon seller who sells batteries and/or other non-food products to EU consumers, you need to take action.

There are two regulations which you’ll need to be compliant with:

• the new EU Batteries Regulation, which is part of the Environmental Producer Responsibility EPR regulations
• the coming General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR) requirements

But there are three deadlines to be aware of:

• the EU Batteries Responsible Person deadline of Sunday 18 August 2024
• the GPSR deadline, which is shortly before Christmas 2024
• the EU Batteries EPR deadline, which is in August 2025

Find out more about these regulations , what you need to do to comply, and get all the dates in your diary.

Firstly, what’s the EU Batteries Regulation? 

According to the European Commission, the regulation, which came into force in February 2024, is: 

“…the first piece of European legislation taking a full life-cycle approach in which sourcing, manufacturing, use and recycling are addressed and enshrined in a single law.’ 

The Batteries Regulation ultimately aims to support the European Green Deal by ensuring that batteries: 

• use as few harmful substances as possible in production  
• require less raw materials from countries outside the EU 
• have a low carbon footprint 
• have higher targets for collection, reuse and recycling in Europe 
• have ‘digital passports’ which allow consumers to make better choices when buying batteries 

Who do the EU Batteries Regulations requirements affect?

The EU Batteries Regulation affects non-EU Amazon FBA producers (manufacturers/importers) and sellers of batteries (and batteries contained within products) in the EU.

This means you must comply with two parts of the regulation: Responsible Person and EPR.

You must prove compliance to marketplaces by, among other things, providing a registration number before the Monday August 18, 2025 deadline. Starting on this date, marketplaces will be legally required to either deactivate your non-compliant offers or comply on your behalf, depending on the country you’re selling into.

How do you stay compliant with the EU Batteries Regulation? 

What’s the General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR)? 

On Friday 13 December 2024, the GPSR comes into effect. It applies if you sell non-food products in the EU and Northern Ireland, online or offline.  

The GPSR is a new regulation that builds on the existing Market Surveillance Regulation, as well as provisions from other EU directives and regulations. The GPSR is in place to: 

• ensure better protection for consumers and protect their health and safety 
• extend the scope of existing rules to include online sellers 
• replace the existing General Product Safety Directive  and the Food Imitating Product Directive  
• improve product safety recall procedures, and set specific rules for sellers to follow 
• improve product traceability 

You’ll need to make sure that all the products you sell into the EU or Northern Ireland – and fall in the scope of GPSR – meet GPSR rules and the existing labelling and traceability requirements.

What are the GPSR requirements?

Wherever you’re selling, you must have on all products by the Friday 13 December 2024 deadline.:

• verification that all products marketed in the EU and Northern Ireland conform to the current standards for labelling and traceability
• an EU Responsible Person (RsP) appointed for the oversight of these products
• labels on the products – with the contact details of the Responsible Person, the manufacturer, and the importer (when relevant)and the type, batch, or serial number
• safety instructions and warnings on the product labels in the official language of the country where the product is sold, if necessary

And for online product listings, you need to clearly show:

• contact information for the RsP and the manufacturer, including names and contact details for each product
• an image of the product, along with any additional details necessary for its identification
• any pertinent warning and safety information, presented in the official language of the country where the product is being sold

Amazon sellers can log in to Seller Central to add this information.

EU Batteries and GPSR deadlines to mark in your calendar

As you’ll have seen, time is of the essence to make sure that you’re compliant! 

Watch: How to stay compliant with the new EU Batteries and GPSR regulations

In under 2 minutes, our colleague explains how to stay compliant – and why it matters: 

FAQs and further reading