Last reviewed by Robert Prime, 12 October 2026. Checked that day against Regulation (EU) 2023/988, the UK Office for Product Safety and Standards’ Northern Ireland factsheet and Great Britain guidance, and the Alliance of Independent Authors. We searched KDP’s help pages that day and found no page on GPSR. This is general information, not legal advice.
Quick Answer: GPSR is the EU’s product safety law, and print books are products. If you publish through Amazon KDP, the Alliance of Independent Authors reports that you don’t need to do anything, because Amazon puts its own EU contact details on the listing; Amazon itself has no help page on it as of 12 October 2026. If you sell paperbacks yourself to buyers in the EU or Northern Ireland, from your website or at events, you need an EU or Northern Ireland “responsible person” and their details on the book or its paperwork.
Table of Contents
- What GPSR is
- Where it applies: EU, Northern Ireland, Great Britain
- What it requires of a seller
- Amazon KDP: what we could and couldn’t verify
- Which UK authors need to act
- Copyright page wording
- Ebooks
- Frequently asked questions
What GPSR is
Regulation (EU) 2023/988 replaced the EU’s old product safety directive. Article 52: “It shall apply from 13 December 2024.”
Its definition of a product is wide: “any item … supplied or made available, whether for consideration or not … which is intended for consumers” (Art. 3(1)). A printed book sold to a reader fits that definition. Online sales count when they are aimed at EU buyers: products sold online “shall be deemed to be made available on the market if the offer is targeted at consumers in the Union” (Art. 4).
Where it applies: EU, Northern Ireland, Great Britain
| Where the buyer is | Rules | Source |
|---|---|---|
| EU country | EU GPSR (2023/988) | EUR-Lex |
| Northern Ireland | EU GPSR as well: “Northern Ireland (NI) applies certain EU product safety regulations – including GPSR” | OPSS NI factsheet |
| England, Scotland, Wales | General Product Safety Regulations 2005, not GPSR | OPSS GB guidance |
The Northern Ireland factsheet also says the rules don’t apply “unless a product is sold in the course of a commercial activity”. Selling your books is commercial; giving a copy to your aunt is not.
What it requires of a seller
Three things matter to an author:
- A responsible person in the EU. “A product covered by this Regulation shall not be placed on the market unless there is an economic operator established in the Union” responsible for it (Art. 16(1)). For Northern Ireland, OPSS says there must be a responsible operator “established in NI or the EU”, and for an individual “this can be the place where you are resident”.
- Details on the product. The responsible person’s “name, registered trade name or registered trade mark, and contact details, including the postal and electronic address … shall be indicated on the product or on its packaging, the parcel or an accompanying document” (Art. 16(3)). Manufacturers must also give their own name and postal and electronic address on the product or, where that is not possible, on its packaging or an accompanying document (Art. 9(6)).
- Details on the online listing. Online offers must “clearly and visibly indicate” the manufacturer’s details and, where the manufacturer is outside the EU, the responsible person’s (Art. 19). Online marketplaces must let sellers supply that information (Art. 22(9)).
Amazon KDP: what we could and couldn’t verify
What we could not find: on 12 October 2026 we searched KDP’s help pages and its terms for GPSR, product safety, manufacturer and responsible person. There is no KDP help page on GPSR. The only EU regulation page in KDP’s help is about deforestation-free products.
What the Alliance of Independent Authors reports (ALLi, GPSR, first published 13 January 2025, updated 23 July 2026):
- “Amazon has confirmed that KDP is actively working to be in compliance with the General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR), which affects anyone selling print books into the European Union.”
- “KDP publishers and authors do not need to take any action on their books for them to be compliant.”
- Amazon “will add the following message to the book’s detail page: ‘Printed by Amazon on behalf of the author,’ along with Amazon’s EU contact details.”
What to do: open your paperback’s page on Amazon.de or Amazon.fr and look for that wording. If it is there, Amazon is handling the listing side for KDP print books. If anyone tells you KDP requires a form or a fee for GPSR, ask them for the Amazon page that says so.
Other distributors (IngramSpark, Draft2Digital print, BookBaby and so on) are separate businesses with their own arrangements. Check each one’s own help pages.
Which UK authors need to act
| You sell print books… | GPSR action |
|---|---|
| Only through Amazon KDP | None reported by ALLi; check your EU listing shows Amazon’s details |
| Through another distributor | Follow that distributor’s own GPSR guidance |
| Yourself, posted to EU customers (your website, Etsy, Shopify) | You need an EU responsible person and their details on the book or paperwork |
| Yourself, posted to Northern Ireland | You need a responsible person in NI or the EU; if you live in NI, that can be you |
| Only within England, Scotland and Wales | GPSR doesn’t apply; the 2005 Regulations do |
| At a stall at a book fair in the EU | You are placing products on the EU market: get advice before you go |
Options for an EU responsible person include an EU-based distributor or printer that takes the role, a paid representative service, or a business partner established in the EU. Shop around and read the contract: they take on legal duties for you.
If you sell direct from your own site, our guide to selling books direct from your website covers the rest of the set-up.
Copyright page wording
Article 16(3) allows the details to go “on the product”. For books, the copyright page is the natural place. Fill in the brackets with real details:
Manufacturer: [Your name or imprint], [postal address], [email address]
EU responsible person: [Name or business name], [postal address in the EU], [email address]If your book is printed by Amazon KDP and sold only through Amazon, leave this off unless you have your own EU arrangements: putting someone’s name here makes them answerable.
The copyright page template shows where it sits on the page.
Ebooks
The regulation’s definition talks about “any item”, and the text doesn’t mention ebooks. We haven’t found an official source that says GPSR applies to ebooks, or one that says it doesn’t, so we won’t tell you either way. If ebooks are a large part of your EU sales, ask a lawyer who works on EU product law.
Frequently asked questions
Does GPSR apply to books?
The regulation covers any item supplied to consumers in the EU, and print books are items sold to consumers. It has applied since 13 December 2024.
Does GPSR apply in the UK?
In Northern Ireland, yes. In England, Scotland and Wales, no: the General Product Safety Regulations 2005 still apply there.
Do KDP authors need an EU responsible person?
Amazon hasn’t published a help page on it. The Alliance of Independent Authors reports that KDP authors need take no action and that Amazon adds its own EU contact details to the book’s page.
What happens if I sell signed copies to readers in France?
You are selling a product into the EU yourself. GPSR expects an EU responsible person, with their details on the book or with the parcel.
Is GPSR the same as the EU deforestation rule?
No. KDP’s help has a separate page on the EU Regulation on Deforestation-free Products.
Final thoughts
For most KDP authors, GPSR is something to check, not something to buy. Check your Amazon.de listing, and only take on a responsible person if you sell print books yourself into the EU or Northern Ireland.
Related guides
- Selling books direct from your website
- Copyright page template UK
- KDP expanded distribution
- UK self-publishing legal and tax hub
— Robert publishing.co.uk
