GPSR is a European regulation, and that means the core obligations — the mandatory information on your product page, the risk analysis, the dossier, the incident reporting requirement — apply directly and in the same way across all 27 member states. You therefore do not need to determine separately for each country whether the regulation applies. What can differ by country are three practical points: the language in which warnings and instructions must appear, which supervisory authority in that country is competent, and whether, in addition to GPSR, any supplementary national rules apply to your product category.
For a business expanding from the Netherlands to Germany, France or Poland, this often comes as a surprise: the rules are harmonised, but implementation is not entirely uniform. Anyone who understands this distinction also knows better what does and does not need to be re-examined for each new market.
What remains the same in every member state
Because GPSR is a regulation and not a directive, no national transposition law is needed as with previous European rules. The obligations around the product page, the technical documentation, the complaints register and the reporting requirement via Safety Business Gateway are set out in the regulation itself and apply as such, without any member state creating its own version. If you have gone through the role and duties check for the Dutch market, you do not therefore need to repeat that core for each country. It is however worthwhile to first check which role you carry in the chain, because that role determines which obligations apply in any case, in every country where you sell.
The language of warnings differs by country
What is not uniform everywhere is the language in which safety information must reach the consumer. Member states may require that warnings and user instructions be in their own national language, and that requirement is separate from whether you already have an English or Dutch version. If you sell via your own webshop or via a marketplace to multiple countries, this is one of the first things to check per market, separate from the content of the warning itself.
The supervisory authority differs by country
Each member state appoints its own market surveillance authorities. In the Netherlands this is NVWA for many non-food products, but other countries have different authorities with their own working methods, priorities and powers within the national enforcement system. For a webshop operating in multiple countries, this means that a product in one country can receive questions from a different authority than in another country, even though it is exactly the same European obligation. Which authority in a specific country is competent and how it proceeds is something only the authority itself or a local legal adviser can clarify; that lies outside what can be said on the basis of the regulation itself.
National rules alongside GPSR
Some countries have, in addition to GPSR, supplementary national legislation for specific product categories — think of chemical substances, electrical appliances or toys. Those rules exist independently of GPSR and therefore also fall outside the role and duties check which focuses on GPSR itself. If you place a product category on the market in a new country, it is advisable to check whether, in addition to the European regulation, country-specific legislation also applies. In the knowledge base, where topics are researched per situation, this distinction between GPSR obligation and any national additions is explained per topic.
Practical: what you check per country before expanding
Before you bring a product to a new EU market, it is practical to look at four things separately: the language of your labels and warnings, the competent supervisory authority in that country, any additional national rules for your product category, and whether your current EU-responsible person is also reachable and available for that market. You do not need to reassess the core obligations of the GPSR itself; those are already established in the regulation. Questions that frequently arise when expanding to multiple countries are bundled in the frequently asked questions about the GPSR, and anyone wanting to know where the information on this site comes from can read that on the page that explains where the information comes from.
If you are unsure whether your expansion to another EU country changes your obligations, the free quick-scan provides an initial indication, and the knowledge base helps you work out the details by topic.