In brief
Who is affected?
Most economic operators placing or making consumer products available on the German market, in particular manufacturers, importers, distributors and online marketplace operators.
What is the impact?
Germany has revised the Product Safety Act (Produktsicherheitsgesetz, "ProdSG") to align it with Regulation (EU) 2023/988 on general product safety (the General Product Safety Regulation, GPSR). This introduces enforceable obligations, including German‑language requirements for product information, enhanced powers for market surveillance authorities and increased administrative and criminal enforcement risks.
What should you do?
Review GPSR compliance for products sold in Germany − especially product documentation and online sales processes − and ensure alignment with the revised ProdSG.
What has happened?
On 19 February 2026, a revised version of the ProdSG entered into force. The legislative amendments adopted in this context serve, in particular, to align German product safety law with the GPSR. This Regulation has applied in all EU Member States since 13 December 2024. At the same time, the former Product Safety Directive 2001/95/EC (GPSD) was repealed. The GPSR lays down essential rules on the safety of consumer products placed or made available on the EU market. It addresses, inter alia, risks related to modern technologies and online trading, covering a wide range of products. The GPSR represents the most comprehensive reform of European product safety law in over 20 years and impacts most economic operators (manufacturers, importers, distributors, fulfillment service providers, etc.) in the EU market.
Although European regulations apply directly in all EU Member States, German product safety law still needed to be aligned with the GPSR. In addition, since the GPSD has been repealed, German law no longer requires transposition of that Directive. For all these reasons it was necessary to revise the ProdSG accordingly.
What does it mean for you?
In the new version of the ProdSG, all provisions that previously served to transpose the GPSD into German law have been removed. At the same time, the revised ProdSG introduces several new provisions that implement the requirements of the GPSR in Germany. These include, in particular, the following provisions:
Language requirements
It follows from Sec. 6 ProdSG that for products covered by the GPSR, the following must be provided in German language:
- The instructions and safety information whose availability must be ensured by the manufacturer under Art. 9(7) sentence 1 GPSR,
- The instructions and safety information whose availability must be ensured by the importer under Art. 11(4) GPSR,
- The warnings and safety information to be indicated in the case of distance sales under Art. 19(d) GPSR,
- The information in electronic format pursuant to Art. 21, sentence 2 GPSR,
- The warnings and safety information to be provided on online marketplaces pursuant to Art. 22(9)(d) GPSR.
Powers of market surveillance authorities
Sec. 25 para. 3 ProdSG empowers market surveillance authorities to issue the following orders to providers of online marketplaces if dangerous products are offered on online marketplaces:
- To remove certain content from their online interfaces,
- To block access to this content, or
- To display an explicit warning notice.
Administrative and criminal offences
Sec. 28(2) ProdSG declares a wide range of intentional or negligent acts that violate the GPSR to be administrative offences under German law. In serious cases, such administrative offence can be punished with a fine of up to EUR 100,000. In other cases, only a fine of up to EUR 10,000 is provided for. However, as general rule under the German Administrative Offences Act ("OWiG"), if the financial benefit derived from a violation exceeds the maximum amount of the fine, the fine may be even higher as the maximum fine enshrined in the law (so-called "skimming of profits").
Finally, violations of the GPSR may even constitute criminal offences in Germany. Pursuant to Sec. 29 ProdSG, anyone who persistently repeats an intentional act that violates specific provisions of the GPSR, or who, through such an intentional act, endangers the life or health of another person or property of significant value belonging to another person, shall be subject to imprisonment of up to one year or a fine.
Which actions should I take?
The GPSR has been directly applicable in all EU Member States since 13 December 2024. Consequently, all economic operators conducting business on the EU market should assess whether their activities fall within the scope of the GPSR and, if so, establish a clear roadmap to ensure compliance with the new product safety regime. This is particularly important for economic operators making products available on the market online or through other forms of distance sales. The same applies to providers of online marketplaces, who now face a number of specific product safety obligations.
In addition, the revised version of the ProdSG has also entered into force, meaning that the GPSR has been fully implemented in Germany. Economic operators doing business on the German market are therefore advised to familiarize themselves not only with the GPSR but also with the revised ProdSG.