Help Center

Do you have a question related to your activity on Rakuten? Find all the answers in our help center.

Economic Operator/Responsible Person in the EU

This FAQ aims to address urgent questions you may have regarding the European General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR) on Rakuten. This FAQ is subject to change based on the behavior of economic operators, regulatory authorities, and the guidelines of the European Commission. In case of persistent doubts or misunderstandings, we encourage you to directly contact a specialized lawyer or your usual legal advisor. Rakuten does not provide legal support, and you remain responsible for ensuring the compliance of your products with national and European regulations.
We invite you to consult the European Commission’s resources on this topic:

Actions to take depending on your situation:

If you manufacture your own products, you must comply with the safety and compliance obligations that apply to you. If you are based in the European Union, you can designate a subsidiary or your importer in the EU as the responsible person for your products. You can also consult companies specializing in product compliance (risk analysis, etc.) to assist you in this process.

If you import products, you must ensure compliance with the safety and conformity obligations that apply to the products. If you do not designate a representative, you are the Responsible Person for the product’s compliance in the EU and must provide your contact details.

In this case, the Manufacturer (or their representative) is the Responsible Person in the European Union. This information can be found on the product, its packaging, or in the accompanying documents. You can also contact the product’s manufacturer if you do not have this information, or check their website.

Starting December 13, we invite you to obtain the address of your supplier based in Europe (for example, for a book, the publisher’s contact details are those of the manufacturer under the GPSR) for all your new stock. Then, for each listing, you will simply need to systematically indicate the address you obtained for the manufacturer in question.

You do not need to take any action on Rakuten for all books, CDs, vinyl records, etc., published before December 13, 2024. Your current or previously created listings (except pre-orders) are therefore compliant. However, please note: this does not apply if these products are imported from outside the European Union.

Starting December 13, we invite you to obtain the address of publishers or manufacturers based in Europe for all your new stock. Then, for each listing, you will simply need to systematically indicate the address you obtained for the publisher or manufacturer in question. Rakuten will do its best to assist you in finding this information.
Depending on the manufacturers, this information may appear on the product, its packaging, or in the accompanying documents. You can also contact the product’s manufacturer if you do not have this information, or check their website.

If you sell different categories of products in various conditions (new, refurbished, second-hand), your obligations will apply on a case-by-case basis. For example, if you sell a second-hand book, a new washing machine manufactured outside the EU, and a refurbished smartphone:

For the book, the manufacturer (publisher) will be the Responsible Person;
For the washing machine, the Responsible Person to indicate will be the importer (this could be you);
For the smartphone, you may be considered the manufacturer if you make substantial modifications to the product.

Art and collectible items are excluded from the scope of the Regulation, as are:

– Human or veterinary medicines;
– Food products;
– Animal feed;
– Living plants and animals, genetically modified organisms, and genetically modified microorganisms in confined use, as well as plant and animal products directly related to their future reproduction;
– Animal by-products and derived products;
– Plant protection products;
– Equipment on which or in which consumers ride or travel when the operation of such equipment is directly provided by a service provider as part of a transport service provided to them and not by the consumers themselves;
– Aircraft;

– Antiques.

You must indicate the Responsible Person for the relevant supplier for each of your SKUs.

The General Product Safety Regulation applies to all products, whether physical or digital. This regulation also applies to software.

How to import the Responsible Person’s contact details?

import responsible person csv file

Access your Merchant Center

import responsible person import template

Access the documentation on import templates

import responsible person xml file

Access the XML documentation

You have another question on the GPSR that was not covered here?

Let us know by filling the form below:

Note : this form is only for questions about the GPSR. For any other demand, please use this page.

 

 Note :

We remind you that RAKUTEN’s contribution to the development of this FAQ is only a brief and non-exhaustive summary of the relevant legislation. Therefore, this FAQ cannot, in any way, constitute legal advice from RAKUTEN.

 

Start selling today

Learn more

Questions ?Contact us