Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 defines an authorised representative as any natural or legal person established within the Union who has received a written mandate from a manufacturer to act on its behalf in relation to specified tasks with regard to the manufacturer’s obligations under the relevant EU harmonisation legislation or under that regulation. The General Product Safety Regulation uses the same wording for consumer products. The representative is appointed by the manufacturer, not by the importer or distributor, and the mandate must be in writing.
Article R3 of Decision No 768/2008/EC sets the limits of the role. The obligations to design and manufacture a compliant product and to draw up the technical documentation cannot be delegated. The mandate must at least allow the representative to keep the EU declaration of conformity and the technical documentation at the disposal of national authorities, to provide them on request with the information and documentation needed to demonstrate conformity, and to cooperate on any action taken to eliminate risks. Under the Market Surveillance Regulation an authorised representative with such a mandate can be the economic operator responsible for the product under Article 4, and Article 5 requires the mandate to cover those tasks.
Non-EU manufacturers selling directly to EU consumers typically appoint an authorised representative in order to have a responsible person in the Union, whose name and address then appear on the product. Separate representatives for extended producer responsibility exist under the Batteries and Packaging Regulations and are appointed under those acts, not under the product-safety mandate.