The person who knew our compliance has left

Compliance knowledge often lives in one head and one mailbox, but the law does not address individuals. The General Product Safety Regulation (EU) 2023/988 places its duties on economic operators. The manufacturer carries out an internal risk analysis and draws up technical documentation before placing a product on the market, keeps it up to date, and keeps it available to market surveillance authorities for 10 years (Article 9(2) and (3)). It keeps procedures so that products produced in series stay in conformity (Article 9(4)).^[1]

Some duties are triggered by events and cannot pause. Where a manufacturer has reason to believe a product it placed on the market is dangerous, it must immediately take corrective measures, inform consumers and inform the authorities through the Safety Business Gateway (Article 9(8)). It keeps other operators in the supply chain informed of safety issues (Article 9(10)), investigates complaints and accident information and keeps an internal register of complaints, recalls and corrective measures (Article 9(12)). An accident caused by the product is notified through the Safety Business Gateway without undue delay (Article 20(1)). Importers have parallel duties (Article 11). Under Article 2(1), third subparagraph, point (b), Chapter III Section 1 (Articles 9 to 18) does not apply to products subject to Union harmonisation legislation; the accident duty in Article 20 sits in Section 2, which that point does not exclude.^[1]

For CE-marked products the sector act sets the duties. Under the Low Voltage Directive 2014/35/EU the manufacturer keeps the technical documentation and declaration for 10 years (Article 6(3)), takes changes in design and standards into account (Article 6(4)), acts immediately on non-conformity and informs authorities where the equipment presents a risk (Article 6(8)), and provides documentation on a reasoned request (Article 6(9)). An authorised representative can hold the file and answer authorities, but drawing up the technical documentation cannot be part of its mandate (Article 7).^[2]

Authorities deal with whoever represents the product in the Union. For products under the acts listed in Article 4(5) of Regulation (EU) 2019/1020, the EU-based operator verifies that the declaration and technical documentation exist, provides documentation on reasoned request, informs authorities of risks and cooperates on corrective action (Article 4(3)). Its name and contact details are on the product, packaging, parcel or an accompanying document (Article 4(4)). A staff change does not change who that operator is.^[3]