How disruptive would it be if your best-selling scented candle range was blocked at EU customs due to incomplete documentation? Or your reed diffusers faced a recall because of labelling issues?
Since December 2024, when the EU's General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR) took effect, these scenarios have become a real risk for home fragrance businesses. Whether you produce scented candles, reed diffusers, room sprays or wax melts, GPSR requirements now impact every aspect of bringing your products to European consumers.
Here's what home fragrance manufacturers, importers and distributors need to know about meeting GPSR compliance standards.
What are home fragrances?
Home fragrances are products that add pleasant scents to living spaces. The category includes:
Combustible fragrances:
- Scented candles
- Wax melts and tarts
- Aromatherapy oil burners
- Fragrant tea lights
Non-combustible fragrances:
- Reed diffusers
- Room and fabric sprays
- Plug-in air fresheners
- Potpourri and sachets
- Car air fresheners
- Gel-based air fresheners
All these products fall under the GPSR regulation when sold to consumers in the EU market, regardless of whether they involve combustion or passive fragrance release.
How does GPSR affect home fragrance manufacturers?
Fragranced products can pose risks to consumers through inhalation, skin contact and environmental exposure. In light of this, GPSR creates stricter safety requirements for home fragrance manufacturers than previous regulations.
Additional requirements include:
Enhanced chemical safety assessments
GPSR requires home fragrance manufacturers to conduct detailed risk evaluations covering the complete product lifecycle. For fragrance products, these assessments must examine:
- Inhalation risks (volatile organic compounds, sensitising substances, respiratory irritants)
- Chemical hazards (allergenic fragrances, restricted substances under REACH)
- Fire safety risks (for combustible products like candles and wax melts)
- Physical safety (packaging integrity, child-resistant features where required)
- Environmental impact (disposal considerations, packaging waste)
- Skin contact risks (for products that may come into direct contact with users)
Risk assessments must be formally documented and kept available for regulatory inspection for 10 years after market placement.
Technical documentation requirements
Under EU GPSR rules, home fragrance manufacturers must compile and maintain detailed technical files for a minimum of 10 years after placing products on the market. Required documentation includes:
- Complete product formulations and ingredient specifications
- Safety assessment reports covering all identified risks
- Fragrance certificates and supplier safety data sheets
- Testing documentation (burn testing for candles, emission testing for sprays)
- Declaration of Conformity (where applicable)
- Quality control procedures and batch records
- Manufacturing process documentation
- Instructions for safe use and disposal
Product identification and traceability systems
GPSR requires home fragrance manufacturers to implement traceability throughout the supply chain. Products must carry identifying elements such as batch codes, production dates and unique product identifiers.
Manufacturers must maintain complete supply chain documentation for six years, enabling rapid identification of affected products during safety incidents.
Manufacturer identification requirements
All home fragrance products must display manufacturer identification details on the product, packaging or accompanying documentation to meet GPSR requirements. This includes:
- Legal business name and registered trademark
- Complete postal address
- Electronic contact information (email/website)
- Authorised Representative details (for non-EU manufacturers)
Safety incident management protocols
GPSR requires home fragrance manufacturers to establish systems for managing safety concerns, including:
- Mandatory reporting of product safety issues to relevant authorities
- Consumer complaint tracking and documentation systems
- Recall management procedures and corrective action protocols
- Incident analysis procedures for continuous safety improvement
What are the GPSR requirements for home fragrance importers?
Importers serve as critical safety gatekeepers for home fragrance products entering the EU market. Key GPSR responsibilities include:
Pre-import verification
Confirming manufacturer compliance before importing fragrance products, including verification of technical documentation, safety assessments and proper labelling.
Safety screening
Ensuring products meet general safety requirements and blocking the importation of non-compliant or unsafe items.
Immediate response protocols
When safety issues arise, importers must act immediately, regardless of manufacturer cooperation, including direct communication with market surveillance authorities and providing product samples for testing when requested.
What are the GPSR obligations for home fragrance distributors?
Home fragrance distributors act as the final compliance checkpoint before products reach consumers. Under GPSR, distributors must verify visible compliance indicators.
Key responsibilities include checking that products carry appropriate labelling in the correct languages for their market, identifying obvious non-compliance issues, and ensuring proper storage conditions that don't compromise product safety.
Distributors also provide crucial market feedback by channelling consumer safety concerns to manufacturers, managing customer communications during safety incidents, and implementing product recalls at retail level.
Do GPSR rules apply to online marketplaces selling home fragrance products?
Online marketplaces selling home fragrance products in the EU must establish two points of contact for safety communications: one for authorities and one for consumers.
Additional requirements include registering with the EU Safety Gate portal and implementing internal product safety processes.
Online marketplaces must also ensure product listings include required safety and traceability information, proactively check if products appear in the Safety Gate database, and respond promptly to notices about unsafe products.
Other industry legislation governing home fragrances
GPSR is complementary to existing product-specific legislation; where other EU laws impose specific safety requirements, GPSR covers additional aspects and risks not addressed by those requirements.
Any products sold in Europe must also meet several other industry regulations, including:
CLP (Classification, Labelling and Packaging)
Scented home fragrances typically contain substances classified under CLP Regulation 1272/2008. Key requirements include:
- Sensitiser labelling: Products containing sensitising fragrances at 0.1% or above must include warnings such as "Contains [substance name]. May produce an allergic reaction"
- Hazard classification: Products with sensitising substances above 1% require hazard pictograms, statements and precautionary information
- Safety data sheets: Required for hazardous mixtures sold to professional users
REACH regulation
Home fragrance products must comply with REACH requirements for chemical safety, including restrictions on specific substances, registration obligations for chemicals used above specified tonnages, and authorisation requirements for substances of very high concern.
European standards for specific home fragrance products
In addition to general home fragrance legislation, there are also EU laws and standards relating to specific products:
For candles:
- EN 15494:2019 (Product Safety Labels)
- EN 15493:2019 (Fire Safety Specification)
- EN 15426:2018 (Sooting Behaviour Specification)
For non-combustible fragrances:
- Specific emission limits for formaldehyde, benzene and naphthalene
- VOC (Volatile Organic Compound) emission standards
Unique Formula Identifier (UFI) requirements
Home fragrance products classified as hazardous must include a 16-character UFI code on labelling, linked to poison centre notifications in each EU member state where products are sold.
EU food imitation regulations
Home fragrances that could be mistaken for food products (particularly those with food-like shapes, colours or scents) must comply with food imitation safety requirements to prevent accidental ingestion, especially by children.
Hooley Brown's home fragrance compliance services
Hooley Brown provides regulatory compliance services for home fragrance companies operating across EU markets, including GPSR support.
For example, we can serve as your designated EU Authorised Representative, managing all GPSR obligations and providing official contact services for European regulatory authorities.
Our compliance specialists can also develop and maintain GPSR technical documentation, including detailed product safety assessments, chemical risk evaluations, and comprehensive formulation documentation for all types of home fragrance products.
Plus, we can make sure your home fragrance products display all mandatory product labelling requirements for traceability, safety and hazard information.
Alongside GPSR, we can help ensure your home fragrance products comply with intersecting regulations, including REACH, CLP and product-specific European standards.
Book a free discovery call with one of our product regulation experts.
This guide provides general information on GPSR requirements for home fragrance companies. For business-specific guidance tailored to your product range, contact hello@hooleybrown.com.
This article was published in July 2025. Regulations can change. Always verify current requirements and seek professional advice for specific situations.
