EU Representative Service

On June 20, 2019, the European Parliament and the Council issued Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 on market surveillance and compliance of products in the EU. This regulation officially came into effect on July 16, 2021.

The regulation specifically addresses the implementation of market surveillance in the field of e-commerce. In Article 6, "Distance Sales," it clearly states that if EU consumers can purchase a product, it will be considered as being placed on the EU market and thus subject to market surveillance.

Under such circumstances, manufacturers must appoint an Authorized Representative (AR) within the EU. The primary purpose of establishing an AR is to facilitate the supervision and inspection of operators' obligations by EU market surveillance authorities.

Providing authorized representative information is commonly referred to in the industry as the "EU Representative" service. Simply put, it means that a manufacturer designates a European company to act as its regulatory representative within Europe.

The "EU Representative" service involves the manufacturer leasing the information of a European company to achieve regulatory compliance.

The name, trademark, contact address, phone number, and email of the authorized representative must be displayed on the product itself, its packaging, or accompanying documentation.

Typically, it is recommended to print the authorized representative’s company name, address, phone number, and email on the product's color box and user manual.

According to the regulation, the authorized representative has the following responsibilities:

1. Retain the product’s technical documentation and Declaration of Conformity for inspection by market surveillance authorities;

2. Cooperate with the market surveillance authorities by providing necessary information and documentation upon request;

3. Notify the market surveillance authorities immediately if a product presents a risk;

4. Collaborate with the market surveillance authorities to take necessary and reasonable corrective actions to address any non-compliance of the product.

The technical documentation and Declaration of Conformity can be understood as the requirements related to CE certification.

The scope of products affected by the "EU Representative" requirement is very broad, covering almost all products regulated under EU directives. High-risk products such as medical devices, explosive atmospheres equipment, and pressure vessels have long been subject to similar requirements. This new regulation mainly impacts consumer products.

Customs authorities and national market surveillance bodies across EU Member States are responsible for overseeing products subject to this regulation.

After the regulation takes effect, each Member State is required to submit an annual statistical report to the European Commission by March 31st to ensure effective regulatory enforcement.

Amazon has also issued an official explanation regarding the EU Representative requirement. For more details, please refer to the following link:

https://gs.amazon.cn/europe/gp.html