{
  "type": "problem",
  "slug": "authority-letter",
  "lang": "en",
  "url": "https://www.conphora.com/solutions/problem/authority-letter/",
  "markdown": "https://www.conphora.com/solutions/problem/authority-letter.md",
  "title": "A market surveillance authority sent us a letter",
  "description": "What an authority can ask for under Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 and the GPSR, which documents to have ready, and your rights when a measure is proposed.",
  "answer": "Market surveillance authorities may require economic operators to provide documents, technical specifications, data and supply-chain information (Regulation (EU) 2019/1020, Article 14). Under the General Product Safety Regulation they may also request a full description of the risk, complaints, accidents and corrective measures (Article 15). Read the letter for its legal basis, answer within its period with documents rather than assurances, and use your right to be heard.",
  "theme": {
    "id": "incidents-recalls",
    "label": "Incidents, recalls and authorities"
  },
  "roles": [
    {
      "id": "manufacturer",
      "label": "Manufacturer"
    },
    {
      "id": "importer",
      "label": "Importer"
    },
    {
      "id": "distributor",
      "label": "Distributor"
    }
  ],
  "regulations": [
    "GPSR"
  ],
  "path": [
    "product-validation",
    "documentation-generator"
  ],
  "trigger": "A national authority writes with a request for information, a deadline for corrective action, or a draft decision about one of your products",
  "keep": "The description of risks, complaints, accidents and corrective measures must be presentable for 10 years, and the traceability information for six years (GPSR Article 15(4) and (5))",
  "why": [
    {
      "text": "A letter from a market surveillance authority rests on two regulations. Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 gives every national authority a fixed set of powers: to require economic operators to provide relevant documents, technical specifications, data or information on compliance, in any form and wherever they are stored; to require information on the supply chain, the distribution network, the quantities on the market and other models with the same technical characteristics; to carry out unannounced inspections; to acquire samples under a cover identity; and to require operators to take appropriate action to end a non-compliance or eliminate a risk (Article 14(4)).",
      "sources": [
        2
      ]
    },
    {
      "text": "The General Product Safety Regulation (EU) 2023/988 applies those powers to consumer products (Article 23(1)) and adds its own duty of cooperation. On request, an economic operator provides all necessary information, in particular a full description of the risk presented by the product, related complaints and known accidents, and a description of any corrective measure taken; it also identifies who supplied it with the product or its components and whom it supplied (Article 15(2) and (3)). That information must be presentable for 10 years and six years respectively (Article 15(4) and (5)).",
      "sources": [
        1
      ]
    },
    {
      "text": "When an authority finds that a product is liable to compromise health or safety or does not conform, it requires the operator, without delay, to take appropriate and proportionate corrective action within a period it specifies; the action may range from bringing the product into compliance to withdrawal, recall and alerting the public (Regulation (EU) 2019/1020, Article 16(2) and (3)). If the operator fails to act, the authority ensures the withdrawal, recall or prohibition itself (Article 16(5)).",
      "sources": [
        2
      ]
    },
    {
      "text": "The regulation also protects the operator. Any measure, decision or order must state the exact grounds on which it is based, must be communicated without delay together with the remedies and time limits under national law, and may only be taken after the operator has had the opportunity to be heard within a period of not less than 10 working days, unless the urgency of the measure makes that impossible (Article 18).",
      "sources": [
        2
      ]
    }
  ],
  "steps": [
    {
      "name": "Identify what kind of letter it is",
      "text": "A request for documents or information, a requirement to take corrective action within a period the authority sets, or a measure or decision. The three are answered differently: the first with documents, the second with a plan and a date, the third with your observations and, where needed, a remedy under national law."
    },
    {
      "name": "Assemble the documents the letter names",
      "text": "Technical documentation with the internal risk analysis, test reports, the EU declaration of conformity where sector legislation requires one, and the traceability information: who supplied you with the product or its components, and whom you supplied. Produce what is missing rather than explaining why it is missing.",
      "item": "documentation-generator"
    },
    {
      "name": "Check the product against the requirement the authority cites",
      "text": "Go through the requirements that apply to the product and record what is met, what is not and what needs a test, so that your answer states facts you have checked. If the authority is right, say so and state the corrective action.",
      "item": "product-validation"
    },
    {
      "name": "Answer in writing, within the period, in the language asked for",
      "text": "Reply to the exact questions with the documents attached, in the language the authority asks for. Say what you have done, what you will do and by when. Keep a copy of the letter, your reply and the date it was sent."
    },
    {
      "name": "Use your procedural rights when a measure is proposed",
      "text": "Any measure, decision or order must state the exact grounds it is based on and tell you the remedies and time limits under national law. Before it is taken you are given the opportunity to be heard within a period of not less than 10 working days, unless urgency makes that impossible."
    },
    {
      "name": "Keep the case open until the authority closes it",
      "text": "Authorities may ask for regular progress reports and decide whether or when the corrective measure is completed. Report what you promised, when you promised it."
    }
  ],
  "documents": [
    {
      "name": "Technical documentation with the internal risk analysis",
      "from": "The manufacturer",
      "ground": "GPSR Article 9(2)"
    },
    {
      "name": "A full description of the risk, complaints, accidents and corrective measures",
      "from": "You, on the authority's request",
      "ground": "GPSR Article 15(2)"
    },
    {
      "name": "Traceability information upstream and downstream",
      "from": "Your purchase and sales records",
      "ground": "GPSR Article 15(3)"
    },
    {
      "name": "EU declaration of conformity",
      "from": "The manufacturer, where Union harmonisation legislation applies",
      "ground": "The applicable Union harmonisation legislation; Regulation (EU) 2019/1020, Article 4(3)(a), for the acts listed in its Article 4(5)"
    },
    {
      "name": "Supply-chain and quantity information",
      "from": "Your distribution and stock records",
      "ground": "Regulation (EU) 2019/1020, Article 14(4)(b)"
    }
  ],
  "risks": [
    {
      "title": "The authority acts on its own",
      "text": "If the operator fails to take the corrective action or the non-compliance persists, the authority ensures that the product is withdrawn or recalled, or that its being made available is prohibited or restricted, and informs the public, the Commission and the other Member States (Regulation (EU) 2019/1020, Article 16(5)).",
      "source": 2
    },
    {
      "title": "You pay for the authority's work",
      "text": "Member States may authorise their authorities to reclaim from the operator the totality of the costs of their activities regarding non-compliance, including testing and storage (Regulation (EU) 2019/1020, Article 15).",
      "source": 2
    },
    {
      "title": "Penalties under national law",
      "text": "Member States lay down penalties for infringements of the market surveillance regulation and of the GPSR (Regulation (EU) 2019/1020, Article 41; GPSR Article 44).",
      "source": 1
    }
  ],
  "faq": [
    {
      "q": "Can the authority visit us unannounced?",
      "a": "Yes. The powers include unannounced on-site inspections and physical checks of products, and entering premises the operator uses for its business (Regulation (EU) 2019/1020, Article 14(4)(d) and (e))."
    },
    {
      "q": "Can they buy our product without telling us?",
      "a": "Yes. Authorities may acquire product samples, including under a cover identity, inspect and reverse-engineer them (Regulation (EU) 2019/1020, Article 14(4)(j))."
    },
    {
      "q": "Do we get to respond before they decide?",
      "a": "Before a measure, decision or order is taken you are given the opportunity to be heard within a period of not less than 10 working days, unless urgency based on health or safety makes that impossible; then you are heard as soon as possible afterwards and the measure is reviewed (Regulation (EU) 2019/1020, Article 18(3))."
    },
    {
      "q": "Our product is not CE-marked. Does the market surveillance regulation still apply?",
      "a": "For consumer products under the GPSR, Article 23 applies the relevant articles of Regulation (EU) 2019/1020, including the powers in Article 14, the measures in Article 16 and the procedural rights in Article 18."
    },
    {
      "q": "How long must we be able to produce the information?",
      "a": "The description of risks, complaints, accidents and corrective measures for 10 years, and the traceability information for six years, counted from when you were supplied with or supplied the product (GPSR Article 15(4) and (5))."
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "Regulation (EU) 2023/988 on general product safety",
      "publisher": "EUR-Lex",
      "url": "https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2023/988/oj",
      "accessed": "2026-09-27"
    },
    {
      "title": "Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 on market surveillance and compliance of products",
      "publisher": "EUR-Lex",
      "url": "https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2019/1020/oj",
      "accessed": "2026-09-27"
    }
  ],
  "related": [
    "customs-stopped-goods",
    "safety-complaint",
    "retailer-proof",
    "safety-business-gateway",
    "which-role-are-we"
  ],
  "reviewer": "Conphora compliance team",
  "reviewedAt": "2026-10-05",
  "notice": "General information, not legal advice."
}