GPSR warnings, manuals and the declaration of conformity

Beyond a manufacturer and an EU responsible person, the GPSR also expects the right warnings, instructions and, for some products, formal safety documents. This guide explains which documents and warnings apply, in which language, and how to attach them to a Shopify product page. For the wider picture, see what the GPSR is and our compliance checklist.

Warnings and safety instructions

Most consumer products need clear warnings and instructions for safe use. Under the GPSR these must be understandable to the shopper, which means showing them in the local language of the country where the product is sold. A French buyer should see the warning in French. For a store selling across the EU, that often means the same warning has to appear in several languages, which is where most of the manual work comes from.

When you need a declaration of conformity

A declaration of conformity is a formal statement that a product meets the EU rules that apply to it. It is tied to products covered by their own specific product laws, for example toys, electronics or personal protective equipment, rather than to every consumer product. If your product falls under one of those laws, the manufacturer usually draws up the declaration, and it should be available to authorities and, where relevant, to the shopper. Many simpler general products do not need one, but they still need warnings, safe-use instructions and traceability.

Manuals and other documents

Where a product needs an instruction manual or other safety documentation for safe use, that should be available to the shopper too. The practical question is less about whether the document exists and more about getting it in front of the buyer in their language, before they purchase.

Where these go on a product page

Like the rest of the GPSR safety details, warnings and documents belong where the shopper can see them before checkout, on the product page itself, not buried in a policy page or sent only after the order. Our guide on what every product page needs shows how the safety panel pulls this together in one place.

Doing it at scale

Attaching the right warnings in the right language to every product, and keeping a downloadable declaration or manual on the products that need one, is slow by hand. GPSR Safety Sync lets you attach documents to a product and translates the safety panel labels into 21 EU languages automatically, so the warnings appear in the shopper's language without you retyping them per product. Dropshipping and print-on-demand stores in particular should pair this with our guide on GPSR for dropshipping and print-on-demand.