Market Surveillance Inspection Under GPSR

A registered letter or an email arrives from the Trade Inspection: a request to submit the technical documentation for a product you sell on Allegro, within the deadline stated in the letter. For a seller with documents in a binder, that's an hour of work. For a seller who "was going to deal with it after the season", a nervous week begins. Regulation (EU) 2023/988 (GPSR), applicable since 13 December 2024, gave market surveillance authorities a clear basis to demand documents from every operator in the sales chain - including online sellers. This article shows how an inspection unfolds step by step and how to prepare before the letter arrives. The documentation basics are in What Must Be in GPSR Technical Documentation.

Who inspects sellers in Poland

• The Trade Inspection (Inspekcja Handlowa) - runs inspections at businesses, samples products for testing, checks labelling and documentation,
• The President of UOKiK - coordinates market surveillance, runs proceedings and issues decisions on dangerous products,
• The National Revenue Administration (customs) - stops non-compliant products at the border before they even reach the market.

For products under CE-marked legislation (electronics, toys), specialised authorities also come into play. From a seller's perspective the principle is the same: the authority may demand documents, and you must provide them.

Where inspections come from

Inspections are rarely random. The most common triggers:

• a consumer report about a product that broke or injured someone,
• a similar product entered into the EU Safety Gate system, followed by a market sweep,
• thematic inspection campaigns (e.g. toys and lights before the holidays, childcare articles),
• a test purchase made by the authority directly online - GPSR explicitly provides for this power, including under a cover identity,
• a tip-off from a competitor, not rare in an Allegro price war.

The inspection, step by step

Stage	What happens	Your move
1. Summons	The authority requests technical documentation, manufacturer and responsible person details, sometimes a product sample	Read the scope carefully and watch the deadline stated in the letter
2. Submitting documents	You deliver the documentation in the requested form	Send the full set: risk assessment, test reports, labels, supply chain data
3. Product testing	The authority may commission laboratory tests of a sample	Wait for the result; keep your own units from the same batch
4. Findings	The authority assesses product and documentation compliance	You can submit explanations and fix formal gaps
5. Decision	From no objections, through orders to fix labelling, to sales bans, withdrawal orders and administrative penalties	Comply within the deadline or use the appeal measures

If the product turns out to be dangerous, the case may end with a Safety Gate entry and a public recall notice - see Safety Gate, Reporting and Product Withdrawal.

What the authority will certainly request

• technical documentation with a risk assessment - the foundation; see How to Do a GPSR Product Risk Assessment,
• data identifying the manufacturer and - for non-EU products - the responsible person in the Union,
• test reports, declarations of conformity and other safety evidence,
• supply chain information: who you bought from, who you sold to (traceability),
• label, instruction and warning templates accompanying the product,
• numbers: how many units you imported, sold and hold in stock.

GPSR obliges economic operators to cooperate with market surveillance authorities and to provide, on request, the information and documentation needed to demonstrate product safety. Failure to cooperate is an infringement in itself - regardless of whether the product turns out to be safe.

What you actually risk after an inspection

• Formal gaps (e.g. incomplete labelling) - usually an order to fix the non-compliance within a deadline,
• Non-compliant but not dangerous product - a ban on making it available until fixed,
• Dangerous product - sales ban, market withdrawal or consumer recall order, public notice,
• Administrative penalties - their amounts and rules are set by Polish law; the real severity depends on the gravity of the infringement, sales scale and cooperation,
• Market consequences - platforms respond to authority decisions by blocking listings, and a Safety Gate entry is visible to everyone, including your wholesale customers.

More on sanctions in GPSR Penalties: What Sellers Risk Without Compliance.

How to prepare before an inspection: the minimum plan

• keep the technical documentation for each product in one labelled place (a folder per model),
• maintain a batch register: supplier, date, quantity, linked test reports,
• check that your labels carry manufacturer, responsible person and identifier data,
• keep supplier correspondence about product safety,
• appoint the person who answers summonses and track the deadlines in the letters,
• retain everything for 10 years - see GPSR Documentation Archiving: Keep Records 10 Years.

Frequently asked questions

Can the authority buy my product anonymously via Allegro?

Yes. GPSR explicitly allows market surveillance authorities to acquire product samples, including under a cover identity, precisely to inspect online sales.

How much time do I have to submit the documentation?

The authority sets the deadline in the summons, and that is what you must meet. That's why documentation should be ready in advance - collecting reports from a Chinese supplier within days of receiving a letter rarely works out.

What if I have no technical documentation?

Missing documentation is a GPSR infringement in itself, even if the product is physically safe. Start assembling it immediately and reply to the authority on time with what you have - ignoring the summons is the worst possible strategy.

Does an inspection always end with a penalty?

No. If the documentation is complete and the product safe, the inspection ends without objections. For minor gaps, authorities usually give a deadline to fix them. The most serious consequences concern dangerous products and lack of cooperation.