{
  "type": "problem",
  "slug": "supplier-material-data",
  "lang": "en",
  "url": "https://www.conphora.com/solutions/problem/supplier-material-data/",
  "markdown": "https://www.conphora.com/solutions/problem/supplier-material-data.md",
  "title": "Our supplier will not say what the product is made of",
  "description": "What an importer can do when a supplier withholds material data: the RoHS and GPSR checks before placing, REACH Article 33, testing and contracts.",
  "answer": "An importer may not place equipment on the market without making sure the manufacturer drew up the technical documentation, and must hold back products it has reason to believe do not conform (RoHS Directive Article 9; GPSR Article 11). A recipe is not needed, but substance data per material is. Ask for declarations per part, test where data is missing, and put the duty in the contract.",
  "theme": {
    "id": "chemicals-materials",
    "label": "Chemicals and materials"
  },
  "roles": [
    {
      "id": "importer",
      "label": "Importer"
    }
  ],
  "regulations": [
    "RoHS",
    "REACH",
    "GPSR"
  ],
  "path": [
    "product-validation",
    "knowledge-articles"
  ],
  "trigger": "A supplier outside the EU refuses to share material declarations or calls the composition confidential, while your customer asks for a RoHS, REACH or POPs statement",
  "keep": null,
  "why": [
    {
      "text": "An importer stands between a supplier it cannot control and a market that holds it responsible. Under the RoHS Directive 2011/65/EU, importers place only equipment that complies on the Union market (Article 9(a)). Before placing it, they ensure that the manufacturer carried out the conformity assessment, drew up the technical documentation, affixed the CE marking and identified the product and itself (Article 9(b)). They keep a copy of the declaration of conformity for 10 years and ensure the technical documentation can be made available on request (Article 9(g)).",
      "sources": [
        1
      ]
    },
    {
      "text": "Material data is what makes those checks possible. RoHS limits apply per homogeneous material (Article 4(2)), so a product-level statement without data behind it is weak evidence. Tests and measurements in accordance with harmonised standards whose references are published give a presumption of conformity for materials, components and equipment (Article 16(2)). Where an importer has reason to believe that equipment does not conform with Article 4, it must not place it on the market until it has been brought into conformity, and must inform the manufacturer and the market surveillance authorities (Article 9(c)).",
      "sources": [
        1
      ]
    },
    {
      "text": "Chemical information duties follow the goods into the EU. Under REACH, a supplier of an article is any producer, importer, distributor or other actor placing an article on the market (Article 3(33)). The importer therefore carries the Article 33 duty to tell its own customers about Candidate List substances above 0.1 % w/w in an article, with at least the substance name. Unlike the notification to ECHA under Article 7(2), which starts at one tonne per year, the Article 33 duty has no tonnage threshold. It covers information available to the supplier (Article 33(1)), which is a reason to make sure that information is requested from the manufacturer.",
      "sources": [
        2
      ]
    },
    {
      "text": "For products outside the product-specific harmonisation acts, the General Product Safety Regulation (EU) 2023/988 sets the same pattern; its Chapter III, Section 1 does not apply to products under such an act, such as RoHS equipment (Article 2(1), third subparagraph, point (b)), but REACH restrictions do not take an article out of it, so for those articles the restriction and the GPSR duties apply side by side. The importer ensures, before placing a product on the market, that it meets the general safety requirement and that the manufacturer has drawn up the technical documentation with an internal risk analysis (Articles 11(1) and 9(2)). Where it has reason to believe the product does not conform, it holds it back, and if the product is dangerous it informs the manufacturer and ensures the authorities are informed through the Safety Business Gateway (Article 11(2)).",
      "sources": [
        3
      ]
    }
  ],
  "steps": [
    {
      "name": "Ask for what the law needs, not the recipe",
      "text": "Most suppliers refuse because they fear for their formulation. You do not need it. Ask for a statement per part or homogeneous material on the substances that are restricted or must be communicated, with limits, and offer a confidentiality clause. A precise question gets a precise answer more often.",
      "item": "knowledge-articles"
    },
    {
      "name": "Ask for the declaration and access to the file",
      "text": "For electrical products, you must ensure that the manufacturer has drawn up the technical documentation and that the product carries the CE marking and the required documents. Ask for the EU declaration of conformity and for a commitment that the file will be made available to authorities on request."
    },
    {
      "name": "Fill the gaps with your own testing",
      "text": "Where the supplier gives nothing, have parts tested against the limits that apply. The acts do not say which parts to test; start from where each restriction bites, such as plasticised parts for phthalates, solders for lead and metal parts in prolonged skin contact for nickel. Record what you tested, which sample and why.",
      "item": "product-validation"
    },
    {
      "name": "Hold back what you cannot clear",
      "text": "If the data or the tests give you reason to believe a product does not conform, do not place it on the market until it has been brought into conformity, and inform the manufacturer and the market surveillance authorities as the act requires."
    },
    {
      "name": "Make it a contract term for the next order",
      "text": "Write into the supply contract that the supplier delivers material declarations per part, notifies changes in materials or sub-suppliers before shipping, and accepts tests on production samples. Keep the declarations with each batch for the retention period that applies."
    }
  ],
  "documents": [
    {
      "name": "EU declaration of conformity and confirmation that the technical documentation is available",
      "from": "The manufacturer",
      "ground": "Directive 2011/65/EU Article 9(b) and (g)"
    },
    {
      "name": "Material statements per part or homogeneous material",
      "from": "The supplier",
      "ground": "Directive 2011/65/EU Article 4(2); Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 Article 33"
    },
    {
      "name": "Your own test reports for parts without supplier data",
      "from": "A laboratory",
      "ground": "Directive 2011/65/EU Article 16(2)"
    }
  ],
  "risks": [
    {
      "title": "Importers must stop non-conforming equipment",
      "text": "Where an importer considers or has reason to believe that equipment is not in conformity with Article 4, it must not place it on the market until it has been brought into conformity, and must inform the manufacturer and the market surveillance authorities (Directive 2011/65/EU Article 9(c)).",
      "source": 1
    },
    {
      "title": "Authorities can ask the importer directly",
      "text": "Further to a reasoned request, the importer must provide all information and documentation necessary to demonstrate conformity, in a language easily understood by the authority (Directive 2011/65/EU Article 9(h)).",
      "source": 1
    },
    {
      "title": "A similar check under the GPSR",
      "text": "For articles outside the product-specific harmonisation acts, such as non-electrical articles subject to REACH restrictions, an importer must ensure before placing a product on the market that it complies with the general safety requirement and that the manufacturer has carried out the internal risk analysis and drawn up the technical documentation (GPSR Article 11(1) and Article 9(2)). For equipment under the RoHS Directive, a CE act, the RoHS importer duties apply instead (Article 2(1), third subparagraph, point (b)).",
      "source": 3
    }
  ],
  "faq": [
    {
      "q": "Is our non-EU supplier obliged by REACH to tell us?",
      "a": "REACH duties fall on actors placing articles on the EU market. A supplier of an article is any producer, importer, distributor or other actor placing an article on the market (Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 Article 3(33)). When you import, the Article 33 duty towards your own customers is yours."
    },
    {
      "q": "Can we answer a customer's SVHC question without supplier data?",
      "a": "Article 33 refers to the information available to the supplier (Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 Article 33(1)). The Court of Justice held that the importer of a product made of several articles must determine for each article whether a Candidate List substance is above 0.1 % for its notification duty, and that the Article 33 duty applies per constituent article (Case C-106/14). Without data per part, you cannot give a reliable answer."
    },
    {
      "q": "Does a supplier's test report on one sample cover all deliveries?",
      "a": "Only if production stays the same. The manufacturer must have procedures to keep series production in conformity and take changes in design or characteristics into account (Directive 2011/65/EU Article 7(e)). Ask how the supplier controls its own sub-suppliers."
    },
    {
      "q": "Who is responsible if the supplier lied?",
      "a": "Towards the authorities, the importer keeps its own duties, such as not placing equipment it has reason to believe is not in conformity and taking corrective action (Directive 2011/65/EU Article 9(c) and (f)). Recovering costs from the supplier is a matter for your contract."
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "Directive 2011/65/EU on the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment (consolidated text of 1 July 2026)",
      "publisher": "EUR-Lex",
      "url": "https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:02011L0065-20260701",
      "accessed": "2026-10-04"
    },
    {
      "title": "Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 (REACH) (consolidated text of 22 June 2026)",
      "publisher": "EUR-Lex",
      "url": "https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:02006R1907-20260622",
      "accessed": "2026-10-04"
    },
    {
      "title": "Regulation (EU) 2023/988 on general product safety (consolidated text of 29 May 2026)",
      "publisher": "EUR-Lex",
      "url": "https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:02023R0988-20260529",
      "accessed": "2026-10-04"
    },
    {
      "title": "Judgment of the Court of 10 September 2015, FCD and FMB, Case C-106/14",
      "publisher": "EUR-Lex",
      "url": "https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:62014CJ0106",
      "accessed": "2026-10-04"
    }
  ],
  "related": [
    "rohs-substances",
    "reach-svhc-question",
    "pops-in-product",
    "power-adapter-imported",
    "customs-stopped-goods"
  ],
  "reviewer": "Conphora compliance team",
  "reviewedAt": "2026-10-05",
  "notice": "General information, not legal advice."
}