--- title: "We dropship and do not know who is responsible" description: "Not handling the goods does not take the seller out of the chain. Under the General Product Safety Regulation an online offer targeting EU consumers makes the product available on the Union market. The offer must show the manufacturer and, for a manufacturer outside the Union, the EU responsible person, without whom no covered product may be placed on the market. A seller using its own brand is the manufacturer." type: "problem" url: "https://www.conphora.com/solutions/problem/dropshipping-responsibility/" markdown: "https://www.conphora.com/solutions/problem/dropshipping-responsibility.md" locale: "en" language: "en" updated: "2026-10-05" author: "Conphora compliance team" publisher: "Conphora" source: "https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2023/988/oj" tags: ["GPSR", "marketplace-retailer"] license: "Free to quote with attribution and a link to the page" --- # We dropship and do not know who is responsible Not handling the goods does not take the seller out of the chain. Under the General Product Safety Regulation an online offer targeting EU consumers makes the product available on the Union market. The offer must show the manufacturer and, for a manufacturer outside the Union, the EU responsible person, without whom no covered product may be placed on the market. A seller using its own brand is the manufacturer. ## Why this happens The General Product Safety Regulation (EU) 2023/988 does not know the word dropshipping. It knows roles. A manufacturer markets a product under its own name or trademark, an importer is established in the Union and places a product from a third country on the Union market, and a distributor is anyone else in the supply chain who makes a product available (Article 3). [1] Distance sales are covered expressly. Products offered for sale online are deemed to be made available on the market if the offer is targeted at consumers in the Union, and an offer is targeted when the economic operator directs its activities to one or more Member States (Article 4). Each such offer must show the information in Article 19. [1] Whatever the set-up, one operator in the Union has to be responsible for the product. Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 lists who that can be: an EU manufacturer, an importer, an authorised representative with a written mandate, or, where none of these is established in the Union, a fulfilment service provider for the products it handles (Article 4(2) of that regulation, which GPSR Article 16(1) applies to products covered by the GPSR). [2] ## How to solve it 1. **Work out your role for each product** Selling under your own name or trademark makes you the manufacturer. Being established in the Union and placing a product from a third country on the Union market makes you the importer; when your sale is the first supply of that product in the Union, that is you, even if the supplier ships the parcel. Otherwise you make the product available as a distributor. 2. **Find the responsible person in the Union** When the supplier ships from outside the Union, check who is established in the Union and responsible for the product. If nobody is, the product may not be placed on the market. 3. **Get the documents from the supplier before you list** Ask for the manufacturer's identity, the product identification, the warnings and the evidence that the product is safe. A distributor has to verify the marking and information before selling. 4. **Put the mandatory information in every offer** Manufacturer, the responsible person where the manufacturer is outside the Union, product identification with a picture, and warnings, clearly and visibly. ## What you need to show - **Identity and contact details of the manufacturer** — The supplier (GPSR Article 19(a)) - **Name and addresses of the responsible person in the Union** — The supplier, or the operator you appoint (GPSR Articles 16(1) and 19(b)) - **Technical documentation** — The manufacturer, or you when you sell under your own brand (GPSR Articles 9(2) and 13(1)) ## If you do nothing - **Own brand means the manufacturer's duties** — A person who places a product on the market under that person's name or trademark is deemed to be a manufacturer and is subject to the obligations in Article 9 (GPSR Article 13(1)). - **No responsible person, no placing on the market** — A product covered by the regulation shall not be placed on the market unless an economic operator established in the Union is responsible for it (GPSR Article 16(1)). - **Penalties under national law** — Each Member State sets its own penalties for infringements of the regulation (GPSR Article 44). ## Questions ### The supplier ships directly to the customer. Are we still involved? Yes. The offer is yours, and a product offered online is made available on the market when the offer is targeted at consumers in the Union. ### Are we the importer if the goods never pass through our hands? Often, yes. The definition turns on who places a product from a third country on the Union market, and placing on the market means the first making available, not handling the parcel. A seller established in the Union whose sale is that first supply meets the definition. A seller established outside the Union cannot be the importer, so someone else in the Union has to be the responsible person. ### Can the fulfilment centre be the responsible person? A fulfilment service provider established in the Union can be, for the products it handles, where no manufacturer, importer or authorised representative is established in the Union. A marketplace that also stores and ships your goods can be a fulfilment service provider for them, assessed case by case (GPSR recital 46). ## Regulations involved GPSR ## Sources 1. [Regulation (EU) 2023/988 on general product safety](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2023/988/oj) — EUR-Lex, 2026-09-21 2. [Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 on market surveillance and compliance of products](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2019/1020/oj) — EUR-Lex, 2026-09-21