Product compliance used to be something importers could half-ignore: get a CE mark from the factory, file the paperwork, move on. That era is closing. Two pieces of EU legislation — one already in force, one arriving on a fixed date — reshape what’s legally required of anyone selling tools into the European market, and both put obligations directly on the importer, not just the manufacturer.
If you import garden or power tools into the EU, or sell to customers who do, this is what’s changed and what to do about it.
GPSR: already in force, and many importers haven’t acted
The General Product Safety Regulation — Regulation (EU) 2023/988, known as GPSR — has applied across all EU member states since 13 December 2024, replacing the two-decade-old General Product Safety Directive. It covers essentially all non-food consumer products sold in the EU, online and offline, new and second-hand — which includes garden tools, hand tools and accessories.
The headline requirement is the one with teeth: a product cannot legally be placed on the EU market unless there is a “responsible economic operator” established inside the EU — an EU-based manufacturer, importer, authorised representative, or fulfilment service provider — who answers for that product. Their name and contact details must appear on the product, its packaging, or accompanying documents. No EU responsible person, no legal sale.
For an EU-based importer buying from China, you are typically that responsible operator yourself — which means the obligations land on you, and they’re specific. Under the regulation, importers must verify that the manufacturer has met its obligations before placing goods on the market: that a risk analysis was carried out, that technical documentation exists and is kept available (for ten years), that the product carries identification — batch or serial numbers — and the required contact details, and that safety information is provided in the right languages. There’s also an incident-reporting duty: serious safety incidents must be reported through the EU’s Safety Business Gateway within two working days.
Two consequences deserve emphasis. First, “the factory has CE” is no longer a complete answer. GPSR applies alongside CE legislation and adds traceability, documentation and responsible-person requirements on top of it. Second — and this catches private-label buyers off guard — if the product carries your brand, the law treats you as the manufacturer, with the manufacturer’s full obligations, including the documented risk assessment. Private label isn’t just a marketing decision anymore; it’s a legal role.
Enforcement is ramping up, and online marketplaces now check for responsible-person details on listings — sellers without them are being delisted. The practical exposure isn’t hypothetical.
The Machinery Regulation: a hard date in January 2027
The second wave has a countdown attached. The Machinery Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 replaces the Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC — the framework that has governed powered equipment since 2009 — and it applies from 20 January 2027. The cutover is hard: there is no dual period. Up to 19 January 2027, machinery must conform to the old Directive; from 20 January 2027, only machinery declared conformant to the new Regulation may be placed on the market.
For a tool importer, the scope question is the first one: hand tools — pruners, loppers, shears — are not machinery. But powered garden equipment is: electric pruners, cordless hedge trimmers, chainsaws, blowers, sprayers with powered mechanisms. If any of that is in your range, the 2027 date is on your calendar.
Most of the technical substance carries over — roughly ninety percent of the requirements are familiar from the Directive — but the differences matter. Because it’s a regulation rather than a directive, it applies identically in every member state with no national variations. It brings digital-era requirements into scope: software that performs safety functions, cybersecurity for connected equipment, and the option of digital user instructions. It clarifies long-contested concepts like substantial modification — modify a machine significantly, and you become its manufacturer. And declarations of conformity themselves change: after the date, a Declaration of Conformity citing the old Directive is no longer valid for placing goods on the market.
The importer’s practical problem is timing and stock. A container of cordless hedge trimmers produced in late 2026 under the old Directive but placed on the EU market after 20 January 2027 has a compliance problem. Through 2026, every purchase of powered equipment should come with the question: will this be documented under Regulation 2023/1230, and will my declaration of conformity cite the right legislation for when it actually goes on sale? Factories serving the EU are transitioning their documentation now; the ones that haven’t started are the ones to worry about.
What to actually do — a short program
For a tool importer selling into the EU, the compliance program falls out of the two regulations fairly cleanly.
Establish your responsible-person position: if you’re EU-based, accept that the role is yours and make sure your details appear with the product; if you’re selling into the EU from outside it, an EU responsible person must be appointed before goods go on sale. Audit your documentation per product: technical file, risk analysis, declaration of conformity, and traceability marking — batch numbers on product, contact details on packaging. Fix the gaps with your supplier now, not at the border. If you private-label, treat yourself as the manufacturer, because the law does. And for powered equipment, run the 2027 transition consciously: ask suppliers for their Regulation 2023/1230 documentation status this year, and plan orders so stock placed on the market after the cutover carries the new declaration.
None of this is beyond a small importer. All of it is beyond an importer who first hears about it from a market-surveillance authority.
Why your supplier matters here
Every obligation above leans on documents that originate at the factory: the technical file, the test reports, the risk assessment, the correctly dated declaration. An importer’s compliance is only as good as the paperwork their supplier can actually produce — which makes documentation competence a supplier-selection criterion on par with price and quality. A supplier who understands GPSR and the 2027 transition protects your legal position; one who emails a generic CE certificate and considers the matter closed is transferring their risk to you.
Bell Tower supplies full compliance documentation with EU-bound orders — technical documentation, declarations of conformity, and traceability marking — and we’re transitioning powered-equipment paperwork to Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 ahead of the 2027 date. If you’re auditing your range for GPSR or planning purchases across the Machinery Regulation cutover, talk to us about the documentation before you order, not after.
This article is general information, not legal advice — for decisions about your specific obligations, consult a compliance professional in your market.
Thinking of importing tools from China at Wholesale Rates? Talk to Our Team.
