Which languages your GPSR warnings need, country by country

The rule

GPSR Art. 9(7) requires instructions and safety information “in a language which can be easily understood by consumers, as determined by the member state in which the product is made available”. Product laws use the same formula — the Toy Safety Directive for toy warnings, the Low Voltage Directive for electrical equipment, the Cosmetics Regulation for precautions. So the safe default is the official language(s) of each country where a consumer can buy the product. Names and addresses of the manufacturer and responsible person are not translated.

Official languages of the 27 EU countries

For countries with several official languages, national rules decide which are required (sometimes by region). Many sellers print all of them for Belgium and Luxembourg. The generator covers 22 languages: all of the above except Irish, Maltese, Turkish, Luxembourgish and regional languages — English is also an official language in Ireland and Malta.

Choosing languages for your sales channels

• Amazon EU marketplaces: the generator's Amazon EU preset adds English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Polish and Swedish. French and Dutch in that set also cover Belgium.
• Pan-EU shipping from your own shop or eBay: use All 22 and a larger label, or print one label per destination country.
• One country only (e.g. Germany): its language plus English if you like — English alone is not enough.

Fitting many languages on a small label

• Keep warnings short and relevant — two warnings in eight languages already make sixteen lines.
• Use a bigger size: 100 × 70 mm or 100 × 150 mm (the shipping-label roll) fit far more than 50 × 30 mm.
• Put the full multilingual warnings in a leaflet or on the box, and the identification block on the product itself.
• Watch the preview: below about 5 pt the generator warns that text may be too small to read.

Getting the translation right

The generator's warnings follow common EU packaging wording in each language. For toy warnings that the directive requires “as worded”, take the text from that language version of the directive on EUR-Lex; for textiles, use the fibre names from the textile regulation's language versions. Your own sentences need a translation you can trust — ask a native speaker or professional translator to check before a large print run.