Your Product Has No CE Marking. Does That Mean It’s Free from EU Regulation?

The Mistake That Gets Manufacturers Into Trouble

Many manufacturers outside the EU go through the same reasoning when they first assess their European market access: they check whether their product requires CE marking, discover it does not, and conclude that the path to the EU market is relatively straightforward. No conformity assessment. No technical file. No declaration.

That conclusion is wrong — and acting on it is one of the more costly regulatory mistakes a manufacturer can make when entering the EU.

CE marking is not the only regulatory gate to the European market. For products that do not fall under any sector-specific EU legislation, a different framework applies: the General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR). And for products that do carry CE marking, the GPSR applies to any safety aspects not covered by the sector-specific rules.

Understanding the GPSR is not optional for manufacturers selling consumer products in the EU. It is the legal floor under everything.

GPSR: The EU’s Catch-All Regulation

The General Product Safety Regulation — Regulation (EU) 2023/988 — has been fully applicable since 13 December 2024, replacing the previous General Product Safety Directive of 2001. Unlike a directive, which requires transposition into national law by each member state, a regulation applies directly and uniformly across the entire EU from day one.

The GPSR operates on two levels simultaneously, which is what makes it structurally different from most product legislation:

First, it is the primary regulation for all consumer products that do not fall under sector-specific EU harmonisation legislation. No CE marking directive? No sectoral regulation? The GPSR is what applies.

Second, it acts as a safety net for all other products — including those that do carry CE marking. Even if your product is fully compliant with the Machinery Regulation, the Toy Safety Directive, or the Radio Equipment Directive, the GPSR still applies to any safety risk or aspect not specifically addressed by that sector-specific legislation.

In other words: the GPSR is always present. It covers the gaps in every other regulation, and it covers everything that no other regulation covers at all. There is no product category for which a manufacturer can say “GPSR does not concern me.”

Full details on the scope and obligations of the GPSR are set out on the General Product Safety Regulation page.

Products That Fall Directly Under GPSR — With Examples

A significant number of product categories that are routinely exported to the EU carry no CE marking because no harmonised standard or sector-specific regulation applies to them. For all of these, the GPSR is the applicable framework.

Furniture and interior furnishings. Domestic tables, chairs, storage furniture, shelving, and upholstered seating are not subject to any CE marking requirement in the EU. They fall directly under GPSR. The manufacturer must ensure the product is safe by design, conduct a risk assessment, prepare technical documentation, label the product correctly, and designate an EU Responsible Person.

Decorative and household products. Candles, picture frames, decorative objects, storage containers, garden accessories, and similar consumer goods carry no CE marking obligation and are governed entirely by the GPSR.

Textile products. Clothing, bedding, curtains, and textile accessories are not CE marked (unless they contain electrical components). GPSR applies, as does REACH for chemical content. Flammability, mechanical safety relevant to the product type, and chemical composition are all within scope.

Non-electric kitchenware and cookware. Pots, pans, utensils, cutting boards, and kitchen tools are GPSR-only products. Risk assessment must cover material safety (contact with food may also trigger additional obligations under food contact materials regulation), mechanical hazards, and intended use.

Sports and leisure equipment. Bicycles (non-electric), sports accessories, camping equipment, and fitness accessories that do not fall under specific directives are governed by GPSR. The risk profile for these products — involving physical activity, loading, and repeated stress — makes a robust risk assessment particularly important.

Instruments and hobby equipment. Musical instruments, craft tools, and art supplies are not CE marked in most cases. GPSR applies, and chemical safety under REACH is often relevant for paints, adhesives, and materials.

Construction products without a harmonised standard. This is a category that deserves extended attention — and has its own section below.

What all these products have in common is that their manufacturers frequently reach the EU market without any compliance documentation, assuming that the absence of CE marking means the absence of obligations. Market surveillance authorities across the EU are increasingly active in applying GPSR enforcement to exactly these categories.

The Construction Products Grey Zone: A Practical Case

The construction sector provides one of the most instructive examples of how the GPSR operates in practice — and how the absence of CE marking does not mean the absence of compliance obligations.

Under the Construction Products Regulation (CPR), CE marking is mandatory only for products covered by a harmonised standard (hEN). When a harmonised standard exists and its coexistence period has ended, CE marking is required. When no harmonised standard exists, CE marking under CPR is not available — and is therefore not required.

This creates a large and commercially significant grey zone: construction products that are not covered by harmonised standards. These include innovative materials, specialist coatings, specific adhesive systems, certain composite panels, and many niche building components for which no EN standard has been developed.

For these products, the legal situation is clear: GPSR applies. The manufacturer must ensure the product is safe for its intended use in construction, conduct a documented risk assessment, prepare technical documentation, and comply with the GPSR’s labelling and responsible person requirements.

However, the commercial reality is different — and more demanding.

European architects, specifiers, building contractors, and procurement departments are accustomed to requiring documented performance evidence before specifying or purchasing a construction product. For CE-marked products, the Declaration of Performance provides this evidence. For products without CE marking, buyers expect an equivalent level of assurance.

A manufacturer whose construction product is not covered by a harmonised standard has two practical options: comply with GPSR as a minimum, or pursue voluntary European certification to provide the market with the performance evidence it expects. Voluntary certification routes include European Technical Assessments (ETA), voluntary application of EN test standards, or third-party testing by accredited European laboratories.

In practice, manufacturers who enter the European construction market relying solely on GPSR compliance — without any voluntary certification — frequently find that their products are not accepted by specifiers and procurement teams, regardless of their technical quality. GPSR compliance is the legal floor. Market acceptance often requires more.

If your construction product sits in this grey zone and you are assessing the most effective compliance and certification strategy for the European market, request a consultation — the right approach depends heavily on the product category, target markets, and distribution channel.

What GPSR Actually Requires from Manufacturers

For any product falling under GPSR scope, the obligations on manufacturers are substantive. They are not a bureaucratic formality — they are a genuine pre-market compliance framework.

The product must be safe. This is the foundational requirement. A product is considered safe if it presents no risk, or only the minimum risks compatible with its use, taking into account the product’s characteristics, its effect on other products, its presentation, and the categories of consumers likely to use it — including vulnerable groups such as children and elderly people.

Risk assessment. Manufacturers must conduct and document a risk assessment covering the foreseeable uses and reasonably foreseeable misuses of the product, including use by children and vulnerable users. This assessment must consider the product’s characteristics, interaction with other products, and the information provided to users.

Technical documentation. Manufacturers must compile and maintain technical documentation demonstrating that the product is safe. This includes the risk assessment, a description of the product, test reports or other evidence of safety, and records of any corrective actions taken.

Labelling. The product must carry the manufacturer’s name, trade name or trademark, postal address, and electronic contact address. A product type, batch, or serial number must be indicated. These details must be affixed to the product itself, or where that is not possible, to the packaging or accompanying documentation.

Instructions and safety information. Where necessary for safe use, instructions and safety information must be provided in the official language(s) of the member states where the product is sold. A product sold in France, Italy, and Poland requires instructions in French, Italian, and Polish.

EU Responsible Person. Every non-EU manufacturer must designate an EU-based Responsible Person before placing a product on the EU market. This is not the same as an Authorised Representative under CE marking legislation — the roles have different legal definitions and tasks. The Responsible Person under GPSR holds the technical documentation, verifies labelling compliance, and serves as the contact point for market surveillance authorities. Their details must appear on the product, packaging, or accompanying documentation.

Incident reporting. If a manufacturer becomes aware that a product presents a risk, they must notify the competent authorities of the member states where the product is available, provide details of the risk and corrective measures taken, and cooperate with authorities in any investigation. Serious risks must be notified to the EU Safety Gate portal within two working days.

The Risk Assessment: Necessary but Not Always Sufficient

The risk assessment is the technical core of GPSR compliance. Without it, a manufacturer cannot demonstrate that their product is safe under EU law, and cannot respond credibly to a market surveillance authority inquiry.

For some products — those with a straightforward safety profile, limited hazard categories, and no foreseeable use by vulnerable populations — a manufacturer with the right technical background may be able to conduct and document the risk assessment without external support. The process requires identifying relevant hazards, assessing probability and severity of harm, documenting risk reduction measures, and reaching a reasoned conclusion on residual risk.

For other products, the risk assessment is only the starting point of a broader compliance process. A product with complex material composition (requiring REACH screening), multi-hazard risk profile (mechanical + chemical + flammability), intended use by children, or electronic components requiring additional directive compliance — these require a compliance process that goes considerably beyond the risk assessment itself.

To support manufacturers who are at the early stages of their GPSR compliance journey, GetReady Compliance offers a Risk Assessment Template for GPSR — a structured tool designed to guide manufacturers through the risk assessment process in a format consistent with EU compliance expectations. It is a useful starting point for products with manageable complexity. For manufacturers whose products require a full compliance programme, it is a foundation, not a complete solution.

If you are unsure whether your product’s compliance needs go beyond the risk assessment, that question itself is worth a structured answer.

Coming in the Next Post: Importers, Distributors, and Traceability

The GPSR does not only create obligations for manufacturers. Once a product enters the EU supply chain, importers, distributors, and online platforms each carry their own set of responsibilities — for traceability, recordkeeping, market surveillance cooperation, and consumer notification in the event of a recall.

These obligations are distinct from the manufacturer’s, and the relationship between them is more nuanced than it first appears. In our next post, we will cover what EU economic operators need to know about GPSR traceability obligations: what data must be retained, for how long, in what format, and what happens when a product safety issue arises.

How GetReady Compliance Can Help

GPSR compliance involves a combination of product safety assessment, documentation, labelling, and regulatory representation that touches every non-EU manufacturer selling consumer products in the EU — regardless of whether CE marking is involved.

GetReady Compliance supports manufacturers at every stage of this process: risk assessment, technical documentation, EU Responsible Person services, and compliance strategy for products in the grey zones between GPSR and sector-specific legislation. For manufacturers whose products sit outside any harmonised standard — in construction, furniture, textiles, or other categories — we also advise on voluntary certification strategies that bridge the gap between legal compliance and market acceptance.

If you are assessing your GPSR obligations or planning your EU market entry compliance strategy, request a quote for a product-specific discussion.