Article 4 of Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 provides that a product subject to the legislation listed in its paragraph 5 (among others the Low Voltage, Radio Equipment, RoHS, Machinery, Toy Safety and Personal Protective Equipment acts) may be placed on the market only if there is an economic operator established in the Union who is responsible for the tasks in paragraph 3. Paragraph 2 lists who that can be, in order: a manufacturer established in the EU; an importer, where the manufacturer is not; an authorised representative with a written mandate covering the tasks; or a fulfilment service provider established in the EU, where none of the others exists. The name and contact details of this operator must appear on the product, its packaging, the parcel or an accompanying document.
The tasks in paragraph 3 are to verify that the EU declaration of conformity and the technical documentation have been drawn up and to keep or make them available to market surveillance authorities, to provide information and documentation demonstrating conformity on reasoned request, to inform the authorities where the product presents a risk, and to cooperate in ensuring corrective action.
Article 16 of the General Product Safety Regulation extends the requirement to all consumer products in its scope and adds that the responsible person must regularly check that the product matches the technical documentation and carries the required identification and safety information, and document those checks. Distance sellers (Article 19) and online marketplaces (Article 22(9)) must display the responsible person’s name and address where the manufacturer is outside the EU. For a non-EU seller the practical route is to appoint an authorised representative in the Union.