GPSR horror (argh!)

[sundancer 43057xp 2]

Well, this comes as a surprise. At least to me:

Well, if you are linked to the production side of the hobby you may have heard of the imminent (From December) introduction of the EU’s GPSR product safety regulations. These have been due to come in for quite some time, but as many of us in the hobby small business world are not international trade law experts many of us have been taken by surprise by just what the consequences of these changes will mean.

I will not attempt to lay out my fractured understanding here, but suffice to say these are currently extremely significant, and the practical upshot is that many of us are ceasing to ship orders to the EU and indeed Northern Ireland before the end of November.

I will be doing the same, and so this means I will be sending out all EU pledges right away in order to make sure they get to you before the start of the GPSR regulations.

I wish I could announce the beginning of fulfillment in a more cheerful way, but here we are! I have every intention of getting Fogou stuff to the EU again as soon as possible, but will simply be stepping away from the whole market until a practical solution is found.

I really don’t know what GPSR is about so I had to search online for it.

From what I understand the General Product Safety Regulation now demands from every manufacturer to make extensive research to see whether a product is potentially harmful or not.

CHAPTER III

OBLIGATIONS OF ECONOMIC OPERATORS
SECTION 1

Article 9

Obligations of manufacturers

1. When placing their products on the market, manufacturers shall ensure that those products have been designed and manufactured in accordance with the general safety requirement laid down in Article 5.

2. Before placing their products on the market, manufacturers shall carry out an internal risk analysis and draw up technical documentation containing at least a general description of the product and its essential characteristics relevant for assessing its safety.

No sure how that applies to Fogou but neither seems like they do. Has any other hobby company reacted to this? Will this be the next “kick in the nut” for the hobby community after Brexit? Where is a lawyer when you need one.

[grantinvanman 2227xp 0]

Well, that sounds like a massive bureaucratic nightmare of epic proportions.

BREXIT just keeps looking worse, sadly. And the EU looks more and more truly distinct from the UK.

A strange time indeed.

[scribbs 14509xp 1]

I’ve seen similar messages from a couple of the smaller scale indie companies (Statuesque, Mammoth Miniatures) too.

Broadly speaking GPSR requires adequate safety labelling on goods, which isn’t that much of a big deal, and most companies will already be following that.

But I think the sticking point is a new requirement – “A key change is the requirement to appoint an Authorised Representative, who will serve as a contact point for market surveillance authorities in case of product issues.”

Small companies aren’t sure what this requirement means in the context of selling items in the EU. I also have no idea whether EU companies are equally baffled, or that the emphasis is more on the UK companies as they are now non-EU manufacturers.

[scribbs 14509xp 2]

For clarity, this is the part of the GPSR amendment that as I understand it has people worried.

Responsible person. Manufacturers that are not based in the EU must establish an operator within the EU that is responsible for compliance with the GPSR, and they should be identified on the product or its packaging. Their role will include being the point of contact for supervisory authorities enforcing GPSR obligations and conducting compliance checks of the product’s documentation and safety information.

[limburger 21763xp 1]

Everyone with a brain is worried about this one.

It’s the sort of stuff that lovers of red tape dream off, but serves zero practical purpose.

It’s like the ‘data privacy officer’ (yeah … that’s a thing).

Only big companies have the resources to waste on this bureaucratic nonsense.
Everyone else will either do nothing or point towards the same dude that’s running the show anyway.

All it does is add another layer of expensive management for something that good companies already do and the bad ain’t gonna fix.

Never mind  that there’s only so much you can do if your suppliers give false/incomplete information.

I expect a lot of small companies inside of the EU to stop as a result as well, because it’s too much work and only increases the cost of doing business.

It most certainly won’t do what it is designed to do : stop cheap dangerous Chinese crap from being sold.

[redscopeParticipant 2718xp 5]

My general view is that the new GPSR rules are a good thing. They are not designed to trip up hobby companies we have to look at the wider picture of what is going on in retail with companies like Timu, Ali Express and now Amazon had started to look at the same model.  Not suggesting they are doing anything illegal but the items on the store could raise saftey questions.

In terms of the EU to be clear this applies to the EU and any product for sale in that market including those produced in the EU. Hence Brexit is not the issue in fact this this GPSR does not applied to the UK. However it does show how dumb Brexit was because even outside of EU, UK companies are still impacted by the ruling we just no longer have a say.

I think the like the VAT rules it will take some time for the hobby companies to adjust to the new rules and yes prices will rise due to additional admin costs. On the plus side maybe it can reduce cheap knock off products in the hobby which is only likely to rise in the future.

Finally if you think this is bad wait until you know who gets into office and starts to put his 60% tarriff on imports from china and 20% on the EU. That is going to have a far bigger impact on the hobby come Jan.

• This reply was modified 1 month, 3 weeks ago by  redscope.

[grantinvanman 2227xp 2]

@limburger and @redscope I believe your take on this is correct: it’s directed squarely at Temu, AliExpress, and the huge number of the same sellers who operate through Amazon. 100% Chinese market issues, for sub-standard suppliers.

Also, post January is going to be bad, very bad. The worst is coming. As a Canadian, I’m already forgoing any trips south for four years. So are most of the sensible people I know.

• This reply was modified 1 month, 3 weeks ago by  grantinvanman.
• This reply was modified 1 month, 3 weeks ago by  grantinvanman.
• This reply was modified 1 month, 3 weeks ago by  grantinvanman.

[limburger 21763xp 2]

@redscope they may not be designed to trip up small companies, but they never feel like they are designed with small companies in mind either.

I’ve seen this with the ISO 27001 & 9001 certifications at work. It’s a heck of an admin task that is filled with things that don’t even apply to small companies (or don’t scale down enough for them to work), but you need the help from an (expensive) expert that understands this to complete it.

Having said that … there’s more than a few small companies within our hobby that could do with a more professional approach to their business. It may kill the fun, but it should add to their resilience (like not hosting your shop on a server owned by a single guy who’s on holiday … ).

[pagan8thParticipant 11215xp 0]

What is Fogou?

[grantinvanman 2227xp 0]

Fogou is a miniatures company.

the list of companies so far:

 

Bad squiddo games.
Warp miniatures.
Fogou models.
statuesque miniatures
taro modelmaker
charlie foxtrot models
Mammoth Miniatures

Blotz

Fighting 15s

 

source/ LAF

 

[sundancer 43057xp 2]

I believe your take on this is correct: it’s directed squarely at Temu, AliExpress, and the huge number of the same sellers who operate through Amazon. 100% Chinese market issues, for sub-standard suppliers.

And let’s not forget ebay and facepage marketplace or etsy here. Basically every big selling platform that operates internationally has the same ‘problem’ with ultra cheap sellers from the lands of Asia.

And also let’s not forget that we as hobbyists are part of the problem. How many of us have bought cheap stuff from the before mentioned sites for a “good deal”? Model street lamps, tiny rocks and gems, LEDs and aquarium plants to name a few.

As CheeseMe said: these rules where made with those big selling spots in mind but nobody thought of the one-man-show casting away in his shed with a washing machine spin caster.

[grantinvanman 2227xp 0]

@sundancer I can say with a high degree of personal integrity that I do NOT buy from those sources. I am serious about that. From my previous work life, the counterfeit products which are lethal, are enough to make me not save money for a bit of more stuff. Furthermore, many of these counterfeit or cheaply made items, are used to finance activities that you don’t want to be involved in. It’s perspective.

I am all for shutting down Temu, AliExpress, and their proxies on Amazon. The fact that GPSR is a crushing force for these at the expense of hobby companies is an extremely unfortunate consequence.

There is always a cost to buying cheaply.

[sundancer 43057xp 1]

Then you might be one of the few. Just have a gander at any Weekender, project or build vlog. They wouldn’t be selling that stuff in masses if nobody is buying.

[grantinvanman 2227xp 3]

Agreed; but … ethics v cheap crap? This is why the GPSR is killing hobby companies’ desire to play against the Chinese.

Don’t get me wrong, some stuff does come from China that is legit – I’m writing this on an iPhone. I didn’t have a choice, did I?

Also, my spouse is Chinese-born. I know the reality of life under Xi, and the life that she and her family lived under the tail end of the Cultural Revolution.

But many things: cars. Guitars. Clothes. Other things. There are ethical, moral, non-Uighur slave labour choices to be made. Make them. Also, counterfeit goods DO support worldwide terror. Don’t bother asking how I know. I just do. I can’t tell you more.

Make BETTER choices.

 

[tankkommanderParticipant 6428xp 1]

Is this a bad thing? There has been reports of skin rashes due to toxic chemicals in a 3rd party Gunpla kit recently. So i’m all for making sure stuff I buy doesn’t contain something that will harm my health.

[Author]

Posts