EU authorised representative, explained: who actually needs one

If you manufacture outside the EU and sell directly to EU customers, you will eventually run into a requirement for someone established inside the EU to stand behind your product's compliance. Depending on your product and your supply chain, that role might need to be a dedicated authorised representative, or it might already be covered by your importer or distributor. The two get confused constantly, so it is worth separating them clearly.

The underlying rule: an EU-established economic operator

Regulation (EU) 2019/1020, the Market Surveillance Regulation, introduced a horizontal requirement (its Article 4) that applies across a defined list of harmonised product legislation (the Low Voltage Directive, EMC Directive, RED, RoHS, Toy Safety Directive and others are named in its Annex I): a product within that legislation's scope cannot be placed on the EU market unless an economic operator established in the Union is responsible for specific compliance tasks. This requirement is separate from, and in addition to, whatever conformity assessment the product itself has to go through.

Those tasks are consistent regardless of who fulfils the role: keeping the Declaration of Conformity and technical documentation available for market surveillance authorities, cooperating with those authorities on request, providing them with information and documentation in a language they can readily understand, and informing them if the operator has reason to believe the product presents a risk.

Who can be "the" EU-established operator

Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 defines this role as being fulfilled by, in order of what already exists in your supply chain: the manufacturer itself if established in the EU, otherwise an importer established in the EU if one is bringing the product in, otherwise an authorised representative with a written mandate from the manufacturer to carry out these specific tasks, or otherwise a fulfilment service provider established in the EU, if no one else in the chain qualifies.

The practical implication: if you already have an EU-based importer handling customs and distribution for your product, that importer is very likely already this economic operator by default, whether or not anyone drew up a formal document naming them so. You do not necessarily need to hire a separate authorised representative on top of an importer who already exists and already meets the criteria.

When you specifically need an authorised representative

An authorised representative becomes necessary when there is no EU-established manufacturer, importer, or fulfilment provider already in your chain, most commonly when you sell direct-to-consumer from outside the EU (a manufacturer in the US or China selling straight to EU buyers via your own website or a marketplace, with no EU-based importer of record). In that scenario, appointing an authorised representative under a written mandate is the way to satisfy the requirement, since there is otherwise no one established in the Union to hold the role.

An authorised representative acts under a specific, written mandate from the manufacturer and can only do what that mandate authorises. At minimum, the mandate usually needs to allow the representative to hold the technical documentation and Declaration of Conformity, cooperate with market surveillance authorities, and provide product information on request. It does not make the representative liable for the product's actual conformity, that responsibility remains with the manufacturer, but it does give authorities someone reachable inside the EU to deal with.

Does a fulfilment warehouse or marketplace programme count?

Using a pan-EU fulfilment programme (goods stored in an EU warehouse and shipped by a marketplace on your behalf) does not automatically make the fulfilment provider your Article 4 economic operator. The regulation does allow a fulfilment service provider to fill the role, but only where no manufacturer, importer, or authorised representative already established in the EU exists, and generally only where that provider has itself agreed to take on the role's specific tasks, which most general-purpose fulfilment and marketplace logistics programmes are not set up to do by default. Do not assume storage in an EU warehouse alone satisfies this requirement; check what your specific fulfilment provider's terms actually say about compliance responsibilities, and if they say nothing, assume it does not cover you.

What a written mandate should actually contain

There is no single official template for an authorised representative mandate, but at minimum it should identify the specific products covered, list the specific tasks being delegated (holding the Declaration of Conformity and technical documentation, responding to authority requests, cooperating on corrective action), state its duration, and be signed by both the manufacturer and the representative. A vague, undated arrangement with no specific task list is a weak defence if a market surveillance authority ever asks to see it, so treat the mandate itself as a compliance document, not a formality.

What happens if you get this wrong

If no valid EU-established economic operator exists for an in-scope product, the practical consequence is that the product should not be placed on the EU market at all, regardless of whether it otherwise meets every technical requirement. Customs authorities and market surveillance bodies can and do act on this basis, and a marketplace that becomes aware a listing lacks a valid responsible party can suspend it under its own Article 22 GPSR obligations even before a regulator intervenes. This is a compliance gap that is genuinely easy to close (appointing a representative is usually straightforward and inexpensive relative to the risk) and comparatively expensive to discover after goods are already in the market.

Is this the same as GPSR's "responsible person"?

Similar in spirit, different in scope. The General Product Safety Regulation ((EU) 2023/988, applicable since 13 December 2024) introduces its own, broader "responsible person" requirement for products that are not covered by the harmonised legislation listed under the Market Surveillance Regulation, closing the same practical gap (someone established in the EU, reachable, holding relevant documentation) for products like furniture, textiles, or candles that have no CE marking obligation at all. See our GPSR for online sellers post for that side specifically. If your product carries CE marking, the Article 4 rule under Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 is the one to check; if it does not, GPSR's responsible person requirement is the relevant one.

What to actually check for your product

Work out first whether you already have an EU-established importer in your supply chain who meets Article 4's criteria; if so, you may already be compliant without further action. If you sell direct with no EU-based importer, you likely need a written-mandate authorised representative before you can legally place the product on the EU market. Either way, the appointed operator's name and contact details typically need to appear on the Declaration of Conformity and, depending on the specific legislation, potentially on the product or its packaging too.