Mailing orders from GB to Northern Ireland GPSR
Apologies if this is clarified elsewhere, but I've not received any guidance and the first I heard of GPSR was on the radio a few days ago.
I sell books, CD's and other media items via the Amazon UK site. After GPSR comes into force on Friday 13th December will I continue to be able to post these items to Northern Ireland customers without any additional costs or delays? Will anything materially change for sellers like me after 13th December?
I'm aware that some small sellers have taken the precaution of removing Northern Ireland from their shipping settings. But what kind of enforcement action, if any, is available to Amazon, delivery companies, customs organisations or the EU? What are the practical consequences of deciding to simply ignore GPSR altogether?
In the absence of any clear advice I'm assuming that nothing will change and that I will still be able to mail orders to Northern Ireland customers without any additional costs or hold-ups. If not, please could someone explain what measures will be taken against non-compliant sellers?
15 replies
Seller_d8YGbIjNqwFxn
Amazon have stated that GPSR does not apply to the Amazon UK store. So you do not need to upload any GPSR information.
The problem with NI is that GPSR rules apply. So in theory for applicable products (which is most products) they should be appropriately labelled and you should have a EU responsible person. Amazon should also be compliant with a website showing this information.
As Amazon are not compliant we as sellers can not be compliant.
In theory the EU can issue hefty fines if you don't comply with the regulations. The argument will be who should forcing compliance the seller or Amazon. In my head it is Amazon as they are not allowing us to enter the information but I wouldn't be 100% sure on that.
Royal Mail and other couriers will act like currently for business to customer orders. So you won't have any changes or worries there.
Seller_tj5bg90i9gyCk
I've done lots of googling on the subject and it's not at all clear to me what we're expected to do as sellers operating under the Amazon umbrella. I find it hard to believe that the EU has any power or jurisdiction to fine individual UK marketplace sellers for selling items to UK customers who happen to live in Northern Ireland simply because we haven't complied with EU product safety regulations. What safety regulations have to do with printed books I'll never know. The EU references to large fines sound like bluster.
I understand why some sellers are not prepared to take the risk, but I'm carrying on on as normal until the situation becomes clearer.
Are there any sellers of books and secondhand media items (CDs, DVDs) on here who have obtained advice on what we're supposed to do to comply with this regulation? Does it apply to us? How exactly are we supposed to 'label' and document our products?
Seller_d8YGbIjNqwFxn
Under the regulations Amazon do have a responsibility to verify compliance and facilitate product recalls. So they should be doing this for NI.
Personally I think if products are compliant with the GPSR regulations you are okay. If Amazon are not asking for the information and breaking the regulations that is not our problem.
If products are not compliant with GPSR then it is a risk sending these to NI. I expect though most sellers will get away with this.
How all this will be policed I have no idea.
I expect though that Amazon's approach to this will change over the coming months.
Seller_IZMia0ASJ6cAm
An item 'placed on the market' (sold for the first time) before the 14th of December and then resold (after the 14th of December) definitely do not need to comply.
This is for the actual item, not the product line.
Something sold on the 15th of December and resold (as second hand) on the 16th of December would come under GPSR.
Amazon claim as their .co.uk website is based in England, GPSR does not apply to items sold and shipped to NI (or any other EU country).
The regulations actually state that selling into NI and the EU from outside would be looked at on an individual basis, which is bureaucratic code for 'we will make it up as we go along'.
Seller_ZJhFeE3tNKzfh
You'd imagine that the EU might not be too concerned about littlecornerstore.wix.co.uk selling occassionally into the EU (and Northern Ireland) but they might look more at Amazon UK.
@Seller_tj5bg90i9gyCk have you read the regulation (and associated EU Blue Guide)? It does not matter that you sell under the umbrella of Amazon - it is you who liable for GPSR. Amazon as a marketplace have their own regulations within the guidance but the below is of note..
56 - The obligations imposed by this Regulation on providers of online marketplaces should not amount to a general obligation to monitor the information which they transmit or store, nor should they require providers of online marketplaces to actively seek facts or circumstances indicating illegal activity, such as the sale of dangerous products online. Nonetheless, in order to benefit from the exemption from liability for hosting services under Directive 2000/31/EC and Regulation (EU) 2022/2065, providers of online marketplaces should remove content referring to an offer of a dangerous product from their online interfaces expeditiously, upon obtaining actual knowledge or, in the case of claims for damages, upon becoming aware of the content referring to an offer of a dangerous product, in particular in cases in which the provider of online marketplace has been made aware of facts or circumstances on the basis of which a diligent economic operator should have identified the illegality in question. Providers of online marketplaces should process notices concerning content referring to an offer of a dangerous product, received in accordance with Article 16 of Regulation (EU) 2022/2065, within the additional timeframes established by this Regulation. In addition, providers of online marketplaces are encouraged to check products with Safety Gate Portal before placing them on their interface.
and in particular...
58 - Product traceability is fundamental for effective market surveillance of dangerous products and corrective measures. Consumers should also be protected against dangerous products in the same way in the offline and online sales channels, including when purchasing products on online marketplaces. Building on the provisions of Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 concerning the traceability of traders, providers of online marketplaces should not allow a specific product offer to be listed on their platforms unless the trader has provided all information related to product safety and traceability as specified in this Regulation. Such information should be displayed together with the product listing so that consumers can benefit from the same information made available online and offline. However, providers of online marketplaces should not be responsible for verifying the completeness, correctness and the accuracy of the information itself, as the obligation to ensure the traceability of products lies with the relevant trader.
Books and media would need to comply (unless anyone can work out if something second hand previosuly sold in the Union, then being sold again covers the 'placed on the market rules'. You'd need to label up the books with the 'manufacturer' and 'responsible person' which seems to be the publisher. Apparently discogs are doing a lot of work on the music side of things - actively working to share the manufacturer data as they see it (though discogs works on a wikipedia style crowd sourcing approach to data). You may need to get a responsible person though. You don't NEED safety documenation if your product doesn't require it.
Reading your posts, it does sound like you are going to carry on as normal, and have started the thread to try to see if others know what the risk might be. I don't think anyone knows.
ebay are very clearly going the route of making sure all listings have the manufacturer and responsible person data, or else the listing is hidden in EU/NI. Amazon simply do not care about GPSR on the UK site.
