GENERAL PRODUCT SAFETY POLICY (GPSR) OF THE ONLINE STORE TAILWHIP.STORE

1. Introduction

This policy is intended to ensure that products offered for sale in the tailwhip.store online shop are safe for consumers. As of December 13, 2024, the General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR) will come into force, introducing new requirements for most non-food consumer products offered for sale in the European Union. This regulation replaces the previous General Product Safety Directive (2001/95/EC), on which it is partly based.

This material is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. If you have questions about the legal regulations pertaining to your products, we encourage you to consult with a legal advisor.

2. Scope of Products

The GPSR covers most non-food consumer products offered for sale in the European Union. This also applies to products that are:

used
repaired
refurbished
handicrafts
spare parts
supplied or made available to consumers in the context of a service provision.

Products excluded from the scope of the GPSR include, among others:

Medicinal products for human or veterinary use.
Food and beverages.
Animal feed.
Live plants and animals (including genetically modified organisms and microorganisms in contained use, as well as plant and animal products directly related to their future reproduction).
Animal by-products and derived products.
Plant protection products (e.g., pesticides).
Equipment on which consumers ride or travel when it is directly operated by a service provider within the framework of a transport service provided to consumers, and not by the consumers themselves (e.g., buses and trams intended exclusively for public transport).
Aircraft.
Antiques (provided that the supplier clearly informs that the product is being supplied as an antique or for repair/refurbishment before use).

3. General Product Safety Requirements

3.1. Definitions

Product means any item – including in the context of providing a service – which is intended for consumers or which, under reasonably foreseeable conditions, is likely to be used by consumers even if not intended for them, and is supplied or made available, whether for consideration or not, in the course of a commercial activity, and whether it is new, used or reconditioned.

Safe product means a product which, under normal or reasonably foreseeable conditions of use, including duration and, where applicable, putting into service, installation and maintenance requirements, does not present any risk or only the minimum risks compatible with the product's use, considered to be acceptable and consistent with a high level of protection for the safety and health of persons. In assessing the safety of a product, particular account shall be taken of:

The characteristics of the product, including its composition, packaging, instructions for assembly and, where applicable, for installation and maintenance.
The effect on other products, where it is reasonably foreseeable that it will be used with other products.
The presentation of the product, the labelling, any warnings and instructions for its use and disposal and any other indication or information regarding the product.
The categories of consumers at risk when using the product, in particular children and the elderly.

The feasibility of obtaining higher levels of safety or the availability of other products presenting a lesser degree of risk shall not constitute grounds for considering a product to be "dangerous".

Dangerous product means any product which does not meet the definition of a "safe product".

Manufacturer means, among others, the producer of the product (if established in the EU), any person who presents themselves as the manufacturer, the importer of the product (if the manufacturer is not established in the EU and there is no representative), and other professionals in the supply chain, insofar as their activities may affect the safety properties of a product.

Distributor means any professional in the supply chain whose activity does not affect the safety properties of a product. The online store tailwhip.store (Fursoller sp. z o.o.) acts as a distributor.

Withdrawal means any measure aimed at preventing the distribution, display, and offer of a dangerous product to the consumer.

Recall means any measure aimed at achieving the return of a dangerous product that has already been supplied or made available to consumers by the manufacturer or distributor.

3.2. General safety requirement

Manufacturers are obliged to place only safe products on the market. A product is presumed to be safe if it conforms to national standards transposing European standards. In other cases, the conformity of a product with the general safety requirement is assessed by taking into account, in particular:

National standards transposing other relevant European standards.
Standards drawn up in the Member State in which the product is marketed.
Commission recommendations on product safety assessment.
Codes of good practice in respect of product safety in the sector concerned.
The state of the art and technology.
Reasonable consumer expectations concerning safety.

It should be noted that the conformity of a product with the above criteria does not prevent the competent authorities of the Member States from taking appropriate measures to impose restrictions on its being placed on the market or to require its withdrawal from the market or its recall, if there is evidence that, despite such conformity, it is dangerous.

4. Obligations of Distributors (tailwhip.store)

The online store tailwhip.store, as a distributor of products, ensures compliance with the applicable safety requirements, in particular by not supplying products which it knows or should have presumed, on the basis of the information in its possession and as a professional, do not comply with these requirements. Furthermore, as part of its activities, the store participates in monitoring the safety of products placed on the market, especially by:

Passing on information on the risks of products.
Storing and making available the documentation necessary to trace the origin of the products.
Cooperating in action taken by producers and competent authorities to avoid the risks.

4.1. Requirements for products and their labelling

All product listings in the tailwhip.store shop must comply with the GPSR requirements. With regard to the products, the tailwhip.store shop and its suppliers/manufacturers must take the following steps:

Verification of product compliance with applicable regulations: Products must meet all existing requirements, and the relevant documents (such as technical documentation, test reports, and declaration of conformity) must be prepared. The declaration of conformity or declaration of performance (if applicable) must be provided to the Responsible Person, and the technical documentation made available upon request.
Physical labelling of products with at least one product identifier, such as a type, batch, or serial number, or another element that allows the customer to identify the product. This information must be easily visible and legible to consumers. Identifiers such as FNSKU, EAN, GTIN, or the manufacturer's part number may be used.
Appointment of a Responsible Person based in the EU for the products.
Labelling of products with the contact details of the manufacturer and the Responsible Person, and, if applicable, the importer, including the postal and electronic address, in one of the official languages of the EU.
- Labelling with the details of the Responsible Person or importer may be placed on the product, its packaging, the parcel, or in an accompanying document.
- Information about the manufacturer must be placed on the product, and only if this is not possible, on the packaging or in an accompanying document.
- If a QR code is used, the information must also be printed in text form.

4.2. Information displayed on product detail pages

The tailwhip.store shop must ensure that the following information is displayed on the product detail page:

A photo of the product and any other information allowing for product identification. If the page already has a main photo and product description, this requirement is met.
Information about the manufacturer and the Responsible Person, as well as any warning and safety information, must be provided (in the case of sales on platforms such as Amazon, this is sent to the respective platform).
Information provided in accordance with the GPSR is displayed in the "Product and Safety Resources" section of the product detail page (on platforms that support this, e.g., Amazon).

4.3. Obligation to inform authorities

If the tailwhip.store shop (as a distributor) or the manufacturer knows or ought to know, on the basis of the information in their possession and as a professional, that a product they have placed on the market poses risks to the consumer that are incompatible with the general safety requirement, they must immediately inform the competent authorities of the Member States. This information must include details of the measures taken to prevent risks to the consumer. In the case of serious risks, this information should include:

Precise identification of the product or batch of products.
A full description of the risk posed by the products in question.
All available information relevant for tracing the product.
A description of the action taken to prevent risks to consumers.

Public authorities, within their powers, may, among other things:

Organize product safety checks.
Request all necessary information from the parties concerned.
Take samples of products for safety testing.
Require products to be marked with suitable, clearly worded warnings.
Make the placing of a product on the market subject to prior conditions.
Order that consumers be warned of the risk.
Temporarily ban the supply, offering, or display of a product.
Ban the placing of a product on the market.
Order or organize the immediate withdrawal of a product from the market and warn consumers of the risks, as well as order, coordinate, or organize the recall of the product from consumers and its destruction under appropriate conditions. A recall from consumers is undertaken as a last resort where other actions are not sufficient to prevent the risks involved.

5. Additional Information and Contact

The online store tailwhip.store is managed by the company Fursoller sp. z o.o.. Address: ul. Domaniewska 47/10, 02-672 Warszawa, Poland. Contact e-mail address: mail@tailwhip.store.