The General Product Safety Regulation defines a provider of an online marketplace in Article 3(14) as a provider of an intermediary service using an online interface which allows consumers to conclude distance contracts with traders for the sale of products. Marketplaces are not economic operators as such, but Article 22 gives them a set of obligations that build on the Digital Services Act (Regulation (EU) 2022/2065).
A marketplace must designate a single point of contact for market surveillance authorities and one for consumers, register with the Safety Gate Portal, and have internal processes for product safety. It must act on orders from a market surveillance authority to remove content referring to an offer of a dangerous product, disable access to it or display a warning, within two working days, and process product-safety notices within three working days. Its online interface must let traders provide, for each product, the name and contact details of the manufacturer, the responsible person in the EU where the manufacturer is outside it, product identification including a picture, and any warnings or safety information in the required language. It must also suspend traders that frequently offer non-compliant products, take account of Safety Gate notifications when detecting dangerous offers, and, in the event of a recall or safety warning, notify all affected consumers who bought the product through the marketplace, publish recall information, and inform the authorities through the Safety Business Gateway about dangerous products and accidents it becomes aware of.
For a manufacturer or importer selling through a marketplace, the practical effect is that listings without a named EU responsible person can be refused, and that a recall must be coordinated with the platform.