Which Languages Must GPSR Warnings Use in Belgium?

Belgium is unusual because it has three official languages: Dutch, French, and German. Under the General Product Safety Regulation (EU) 2023/988, which has applied since 13 December 2024, safety warnings and instructions must be understandable to the consumer. In Belgium, that means thinking carefully about which language your customers actually read.

Why more than one language is usually needed

The language a Belgian consumer needs depends on the region. Dutch is used in Flanders, French in Wallonia and widely in Brussels, and German in the German-speaking community in the east. Because an online store typically reaches customers across the whole country, sellers often cannot rely on a single language.

• Dutch and French are the two languages most sellers provide as a baseline.
• German may be relevant for customers in the German-speaking community.
• Warnings should appear on the online listing, not only on packaging.

What this means for your PrestaShop store

A practical approach is to present safety warnings and essential instructions in Dutch and French at minimum, adding German where you serve German-speaking customers. Under Article 19, these warnings should already be visible on your listings before purchase, so building multilingual warnings into your product pages helps you serve the whole Belgian market.

Language expectations can be interpreted strictly and can depend on where your customers are, so treat a multilingual approach as the safe default and confirm what applies to your specific products and audience with FPS Economy, the Federal Public Service Economy.

This answer is for educational purposes and is not legal advice. Confirm your obligations with FPS Economy or a qualified adviser before acting.