Forthcoming GPSR regulations in the EU for US-based businesses

[aaloan]

I haven’t seen any official documentation from Shopify yet (I know Etsy and Amazon sellers have received notices) about the forthcoming GPSR requirements for selling in the EU market. 

I own a small online bookstore through Shopify and am totally confused on what I need to do ahead of Dec. 13 to continue shipping to the EU. It seems like no one outside the UK/small forums are talking about this. Are we not worried about it? Lol

If anyone has found solid guidance on complying with the new laws I would really appreciate it. 

[LinBow]

Hi,

I'm also confused why so few people are talking about this- I am based in the US and at this point I think I'll have to stop shipping to Europe altogether. It doesn't make up much of my business, but it's still frustrating.

There was someone on another thread advertising some kind of compliance app, but then they said it doesn't cover the EU-based representative required, so I'm not sure what the point would be for my business since I can't act as a representative from the US. It seems ridiculous that there is no threshold or concessions for small businesses- we are the only ones who are going to be hurt by such a vague and sweeping regulation, not the big companies with international headquarters.

I really wish Shopify would send out something- even if it's just to tell us to hold off on shipping there until things are clearer... Or better yet give us a checklist of how to stay compliant.

[CocoLoco]

I'm concerned about this also. I don't ship to the EU but I do ship to the UK - and the UK is caught up in this due to post-Brexit arrangements for Northern Ireland. What I really want to do is confine my shipping to England, Scotland and Wales only. I'm hoping that Shopify Markets will make this adjustment so that we can leave out Northern Ireland (sorry, anyone from NI reading).

[LinBow]

There is a way to do this currently- you have to configure your regions in the shipping rates editor under Shipping Zones (not Markets- that only allows you to select counties and not regions). There are 5 regions in the drop down menu for the UK (NI, Soctland, England, Wales, & British Forces). Just deselect the NI option from that list- then you can still ship to the rest of the UK! 🙂

[CocoLoco]

I checked this yesterday and could see no such option. But thanks, I'll look again!

[LinBow]

Looks like this

[CocoLoco]

Got it! Really helpful, many thanks 😀

[shubify]

Hi Aaloan,

Shopify lets merchants provide any required product information, either in their product description or by adding a metafield. We cannot provide direct legal advice, but hope this info helps!

[artofadornment]

It seems that no one has really received any truly helpful official guidance from Shopify, or elsewhere for that matter...  😕 but if you haven't seen it already, you might be interested in following the discussion here with many of us from Canada, USA, and parts of the EU chipping in with what we've found out so far.

EU/NI General Product Safety Regulations (GPSD / GPSR), Total Nightmare
https://community.shopify.com/c/international-commerce/eu-ni-general-product-safety-regulations-gpsd...

For myself, I've changed absolutely nothing so far - I'm still selling to the EU/NI, however since Dec. 13th I've only received one order from inside the EU and shipped it only a few days ago. So within the next couple of weeks I'll be finding out if it gets accepted and delivered just fine, is held in limbo forever without a word, is quietly rejected and returned to sender, or if I get contacted by some administration demanding I cough up the required info and/or have a local representative to vouch for me, lest I be hit with some penalty or have it returned, etc. Regardless, that's the forum where I'll be posting updates.

Meanwhile I'm definitely worried about it, but at this point it seems the only answer I'm likely to get about exactly what safety info I'm supposed to include (beyond the obvious "hand made [jewelry item] contains plastic and silver plated brass, DO NOT EAT") or how I'm supposed to prove I had the item available for sale to the EU before Dec. 13th is if someone contacts me to demand it. Sigh... 😑