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GPSR requirements for pet products sold to the EU
By Karim El Achaq, founder of EUReady · Last updated: 6 July 2026
- A dog toy is not a toy in EU law: the Toy Safety Directive covers products for children only. Most pet accessories fall under the general GPSR safety net.
- Because buyers are human consumers, every pet product listing needs manufacturer information, an EU responsible person for non-EU brands, and safety notes.
- Pet food and treats are excluded from GPSR but fall under EU feed law, a separate compliance track.
- Electric pet items (heated beds, trackers, fountains) add CE requirements plus WEEE and battery EPR.
Pet products occupy a strange corner of EU law. A dog toy is not a toy in the legal sense (the Toy Safety Directive only covers products for children), pet food has its own feed legislation, and almost everything else, from collars to beds to bowls, falls under the general safety net of the GPSR.
Since the buyers are human consumers, the GPSR listing rules apply in full: every pet product page shown to EU customers needs manufacturer information, an EU responsible person for non-EU brands, and relevant safety notes.
What every pet products listing must show under GPSR
Since 13 December 2024, the General Product Safety Regulation (EU) 2023/988 sets rules for products sold online to EU consumers. Article 19 is the part that hits your product pages directly: every online listing must display, before purchase, the following information.
- Manufacturer identity: the name (or trade name) of the manufacturer, a postal address and an electronic address (email). If you make the products yourself under your own brand, that is you.
- EU responsible person: if the manufacturer is not established in the EU, the name and contact details of the responsible economic operator located inside the EU.
- Product identification: enough information to identify the product, such as a picture, the product type and any batch or serial reference.
- Warnings and safety information: in a language easily understood by consumers of the country you sell to, not only in English.
The same information also has to travel with the physical product (on the item, its packaging or an accompanying document), so your labels and your Shopify pages need to match.
What rules apply to pet products?
Pet accessories run on the GPSR, with feed law for treats, REACH for materials, and CE plus EPR for anything electric. The breakdown:
- GPSR: the core regime for pet accessories. You must be able to show the product is safe in normal use, and your listing must carry the required information.
- Pet food and treats: excluded from GPSR but covered by EU feed law, which has its own registration and labelling requirements. If you sell treats, that is a separate compliance track.
- Materials: REACH restrictions apply to dyes and plastics; food-contact style prudence is expected for bowls even though pets are not consumers.
- Electric items (heated beds, GPS trackers, fountains): CE requirements (LVD, EMC, RED for connected devices) plus WEEE and battery EPR registration.
What safety notes apply to pet products?
Pet product warnings center on supervision, ingestion of small parts, correct sizing, and care. Typical notes:
- Supervise your pet during use; remove the product if damaged.
- Choking or ingestion warnings for small or chewable parts.
- Sizing guidance for collars and harnesses to prevent escape or injury.
- Washing and care instructions for beds and fabric items.
Do not forget the packaging: EPR applies too
GPSR covers the product. The box, mailer, tape and filler you ship it in fall under a different set of rules: Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for packaging. If you ship pet products to consumers in Germany you must be registered in the LUCID packaging register before your first sale, and in France you need a unique identifier via an eco-organisation such as Citeo (see our France EPR guide). Marketplaces already verify these numbers and block sellers who do not have them.
How to make your Shopify store compliant, step by step
- List what you sell to the EU. GPSR applies to new, used, repaired and handmade pet products alike. There is no minimum volume: one parcel to an EU customer is enough to be in scope.
- Gather the manufacturer information. Your business name, postal address and email if you are the maker; your supplier's details if you resell.
- Appoint an EU responsible person if you are outside the EU. Authorised representative services exist from roughly 150 to 500 euros per year. Their details go on your listings and labels. Our responsible person guide explains the options.
- Write the warnings and safety information relevant to your products, and translate them for the markets you sell to.
- Add all of it to every product page. On Shopify this is usually done with metafields plus a theme block, so the information displays cleanly on each listing.
- Sort out packaging EPR for Germany and France if you ship there.
Doing this by hand across a full catalog is where most sellers give up: it is repetitive, error-prone and easy to leave half-finished. That is the exact problem EUReady automates: scan, see what is missing per product, fix it across the catalog in one click.
Check your store for free
EUReady scans every product in your Shopify store, shows you exactly what GPSR and EPR info is missing, and fills it in for you. Join the free beta and be first in line when we launch on the Shopify App Store.
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Frequently asked questions
Do dog toys need CE marking?
No. CE marking under the Toy Safety Directive is for children's toys only. Pet toys fall under GPSR: no CE logo, but you still owe safety and the listing information.
Are handmade pet treats in scope of GPSR?
Treats are animal feed, which has its own EU regime including registration as a feed business. GPSR covers your non-food pet products; the treats need the feed-law track.
What about products with batteries?
Trackers, light-up collars and similar items bring in CE requirements plus EPR obligations for batteries and electronics (WEEE). Factor registration in Germany and France into your plans if you ship there.
Official sources
This guide is general information for online sellers, based on publicly available EU legislation. It is not legal advice. Regulations evolve and national rules differ: for decisions that matter to your business, confirm with a qualified professional or the official sources linked above.