National legislation
Act implementing the Regulation (EU) 2023/988 on general product safety (Official Gazette of the Republic of Croatia; NN
78/2025)
EU legislation
Regulation (EU) 2023/988 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10 May 2023 on general product safety, amending Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council and Directive (EU) 2020/1828 of the European Parliament and the Council, and repealing Directive 2001/95/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and Council Directive 87/357/EEC
Competent authority
Ministry of Economy
Email:
prava.potrosaca@mingo.hr
Web:
https://mingo.gov.hr/
Scope
All economic operators involved in the supply chain (manufacturers, authorised representatives, importers, distributors), including providers of online marketplaces, have a role in ensuring product safety and the corresponding obligations that they have to fulfil in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2023/988.
Regulation (EU) 2023/988 applies to all non-food products placed on the market or made available on the market of the European Union, namely products for which there are no specific safety provisions under the Union law, and also to consumer products covered by Union harmonisation legislation where certain types of risk are not covered by that Union harmonisation legislation.
Certain products and groups of products are excluded from the scope of the Regulation, for example medicinal products, food and feed, etc. (see Article 2 of Regulation (EU) 2023/988).
Main requirements that the business user needs to know about
All obligations of economic operators involved in the supply chain with regard to product safety are laid down in Regulation (EU) 2023/988:
- manufacturer (Article 9)
- authorised representative (Article 10)
- importer (Article 11)
- distributor (Article 12)
Article 13 further clarifies cases in which Regulation (EU) 2023/988 obligations of manufacturers apply to other person.
Chapter II (Articles 5 to 8) of Regulation (EU) 2023/988 sets out the general safety requirements applicable to products placed on the market within the European Union.
Obligations of economic operators in the case of distance sales (Article 19)
Where products are made available on the market online or through other means of distance sales, the offer of those products has to clearly and visibly indicate the following information:
- name, registered trade name or registered trademark and contact details of the manufacturer
- name and contact details of the EU economic operator responsible for the product if the manufacturer is not established in the EU
- information allowing the identification of the product, including a picture of it, its type and any other product identifier
- any warning or safety information affixed to the product or to the packaging in a language which can be easily understood by consumers and other end-users, as determined by the Member State concerned.
Responsible person for products placed on the Union market (Article 16)
For products covered by Regulation (EU) 2023/988, there must be a responsible person, specifically an economic operator established in the European Union (Article 16(1)).
Article 16(2) and (3) of Regulation (EU) 2023/988 provides for the tasks of an economic operator:
“2. Without prejudice to any obligations of economic operators under this Regulation, in addition to the tasks referred to in Article 4(3) of Regulation (EU) 2019/1020, and to ensure the safety of the product it is responsible for, where appropriate with regard to the possible risks related to a product, the economic operator referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article shall regularly check:
(a) that the product complies with the technical documentation referred to in Article 9(2) of this Regulation;
(b) that the product complies with the requirements provided for Article 9(5), (6) and (7) of this Regulation.
The economic operator referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article shall, upon request by the market surveillance authorities, provide documented evidence of the checks performed.
3. The name, registered trade name or registered trade mark, and contact details, including the postal and electronic address, of the economic operator referred to in paragraph 1 shall be indicated on the product or on its packaging, the parcel or an accompanying document.”
Information from economic operators and providers of online marketplaces to consumers on product safety
In the case of a product safety recall or where consumers need to be brought to the attention of certain information in order to ensure the safe use of the product (safety alert), certain information has to be brought to the attention of consumers to ensure the safe use of a product (safety warning), economic operators, in accordance with their respective obligations, and providers of online marketplaces, ensure that all affected consumers are notified directly and without undue delay.
Union harmonisation legislation
Where products are subject to specific safety requirements imposed by Union law, this Regulation applies only to those aspects and risks or categories of risks which are not covered by those requirements; for products subject to specific requirements under Union harmonisation legislation, the following chapters of the Regulation (EU) 2023/988 apply:
- Chapter I: General provisions
- Chapter II: Safety requirements (limited to risks or categories of risks not covered by Union harmonisation legislation)
- Chapter III, section 2: Obligations of economic operators (for distance sales, reporting accidents related to safety of products and provisions on information in electronic format)
- Chapter IV: Providers of online marketplaces
- Chapter VI: Safety Gate Rapid Alert System and Safety Business Gateway
- Chapter VIII: Right to information and to a remedy
Safety Gate
Safety Gate is a system that enables a swift exchange of information between Member States and the Commission and allows consumers to report non-food products purchased on the European Union market, online or offline, which pose a risk to the health and safety of consumers.
Information on dangerous products should, in general, be made available to the public via the
Safety Gate portal.
USEFUL LINKS
European standards in accordance with the GPSR
Safety Gate
Safety Business Gateway
Template for a recall notice (must be available in Croatian if the product is placed on the Croatian market)
Frequently asked questions
National measure
According to Article 4 of the Act implementing the Regulation (EU) 2023/988 on general product safety, the language which can be easily understood by consumers within the meaning of Articles 9, 11, 19, 21, 22, and 36 of Regulation (EU) 2023/988 is Croatian, and it shall be written in the Latin script.
Market surveillance authority
Inspection tasks in the field of product safety, depending on the type of product, are carried out by the competent inspection authorities in accordance with Article 9 of the Act on the Implementation of Regulation (EU) 2023/988 on general product safety.
- consumers may submit a complaint to the competent market inspection of the State Inspectorate via the web form
https://dirh.gov.hr/podnosenje-prijava/83
- Ministry of Health (e.g. medical devices)
Address: Ksaver 200A, 10000 Zagreb
email:
pitajtenas@miz.hr
- Ministry of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure - (e.g. marine equipment, recreational craft, personal watercraft and cableway installations)
Address: Prisavlje 14, 10 000 Zagreb
email:
info@mmpi.hr
- Ministry of the Interior - (e.g. in the field of fireworks, explosives for civil use)
Address: Ulica grada Vukovara 33, 10 000 Zagreb
email:
pitanja@mup.hr
- State Office for Metrology - (e.g. measuring container bottles, exhaust system of motor vehicles and so on)
Address: Capraška 6, 10000 Zagreb
email:
pisarnica@dzm.hr
- Croatian Regulatory Authority for Network Industries (HAKOM) - (e.g. radio equipment)
Address: Ulica Roberta Frangeša-Mihanovića 9, 10110 Zagreb
email:
RiTT-oprema@hakom.hr
