Guides · Updated 2026-11-02

Do you need an EU Responsible Person? A guide for Shopify sellers outside the EU

If the products you sell to EU consumers are made outside the EU, GPSR requires an EU-based "Responsible Person" for them — and their contact details must appear on your product page.

When you need one

Under the EU General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR, Regulation (EU) 2023/988), a consumer product can't be placed on the EU market unless an economic operator established in the EU is responsible for it:

A product covered by this Regulation shall not be placed on the market unless there is an economic operator established in the Union who is responsible for the tasks set out in Article 4(3) of Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 in respect to that product.
— Regulation (EU) 2023/988, Article 16(1)

If your manufacturer is in the EU, the manufacturer fills this role and you just show their details. If the manufacturer is outside the EU — the US, the UK, China, Korea, Turkey, anywhere — someone in the EU has to take the role, and online offers must name them (Article 19(b)).

The UK has not been in the EU since 2020, so a UK manufacturer or UK address does not count as "established in the Union".

Who can be your EU Responsible Person

The law lists four kinds of economic operator:

(a) a manufacturer established in the Union; (b) an importer, where the manufacturer is not established in the Union; (c) an authorised representative who has a written mandate from the manufacturer designating the authorised representative to perform the tasks set out in paragraph 3 on the manufacturer's behalf; (d) a fulfilment service provider established in the Union with respect to the products it handles, where no other economic operator as mentioned in points (a), (b) and (c) is established in the Union.
— Regulation (EU) 2019/1020, Article 4(2)

In practice, Shopify sellers usually end up with one of these:

What the Responsible Person does

The role is not just a name on a page. Under Article 4(3) of Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 the Responsible Person must, among other things, provide authorities with the information needed to show the product is compliant on request, inform them when there is reason to believe a product presents a risk, and cooperate on corrective action. GPSR Article 16(2) adds regular checks that the product complies with its technical documentation and its labelling and instruction requirements, with documented evidence on request. Choose someone who will actually do this.

What to show on the product page

Article 19(b) asks for three things about the Responsible Person:

These go in addition to the manufacturer's details from Article 19(a), not instead of them. A typical layout is two short blocks on the product page: "Manufacturer" and "EU Responsible Person".

Adding it in Shopify

  1. Agree the role in writing with your importer, representative or fulfilment provider.
  2. Store their name, EU address and email once — for example in a Shopify metaobject — rather than typing it into each product description.
  3. Reference it from every product made outside the EU.
  4. Display it with a theme app block so it appears on every product page automatically.
  5. Check a few products with the free GPSR checker.

Quick answers

I'm a small store dropshipping from outside the EU. Does this apply to me?

If you sell to consumers in the EU, yes — the rules apply to the product, not to your size. Talk to your supplier about who acts as EU Responsible Person.

Can my own store be the Responsible Person?

Only if you are an economic operator established in the EU that fits one of the four types above — for example, an EU company importing the goods.

Does every product need the same Responsible Person?

No. It depends on who made and imported each product, so different brands in your catalogue may have different ones.

Check a product page now with the free GPSR checker.

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