Distributor obligations

Last reviewed: May 2026 · Legal status verified against EUR-Lex.

A distributor, for the purposes of CE marking legislation, is any natural or legal person in the supply chain other than the manufacturer or importer who makes a product available on the EU market (Decision No 768/2008/EC, Article R1, point 6). Distributors include wholesalers, retailers, e-commerce platforms acting as sellers, hire-and-rental businesses, and second-hand traders selling refurbished products. The distributor's obligations are set out in Article R5 of Decision 768/2008/EC and reflected in every sectoral act. They are due-diligence obligations: the distributor verifies certain features before making the product available, and acts on indications of non-conformity. The distributor does not perform conformity assessment, does not draw up technical documentation, and does not affix the CE mark.

"Making available" is a broader concept than "placing on the market". A distributor "makes available" each time it offers the product for distribution, consumption, or use on the EU market in the course of a commercial activity, whether against payment or free of charge (Regulation 765/2008, Article 2(1)). Every act of supply downstream of placing on the market is a making-available, and each one engages the distributor's verification duty.

Legal basis

• Decision No 768/2008/EC, Article R5 — distributor obligations; Article R6 — when distributors are treated as manufacturers.
• Regulation (EC) No 765/2008, Article 30(3) — prohibition on affixing CE marking other than by the manufacturer or its authorised representative.
• Regulation (EU) 2019/1020, Article 7 — duty of all economic operators, including distributors, to cooperate with market surveillance authorities.
• Sectoral provisions — e.g., Article 14 of Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 (Machinery); Article 14 of Regulation (EU) 2017/745 (MDR); Article 10 of Regulation (EU) 2025/2509 (Toys); Article 10 of Directive 2014/35/EU (LVD).
• Regulation (EU) 2023/988 (GPSR), Article 12 — distributor duties for consumer products not covered by harmonisation legislation.

The six obligations under Article R5

Article R5 of Decision 768/2008/EC sets out the following obligations of distributors:

1. Act with due care in relation to the requirements. The distributor must act with due care to ensure the product complies with the applicable harmonisation legislation when making it available on the market.
2. Verify visible features. Before making the product available, the distributor must verify that:
   • The CE marking is affixed (in conformity with Annex II of Regulation 765/2008 and the applicable sectoral act);
   • The product is accompanied by the required documents, including user instructions and safety information, in the language(s) required by the Member State of destination;
   • The manufacturer (and where applicable the authorised representative or importer) has complied with the traceability requirements (name, address, type/batch/serial number on the product or packaging);
   • The product is accompanied by the EU Declaration of Conformity where the applicable act requires it to be supplied with the product.
3. Refuse to make non-compliant products available. Where the distributor considers or has reason to believe the product is not in conformity, it must not make it available until conformity is brought about. Where the product presents a risk, the distributor must inform the manufacturer or importer, and the competent national surveillance authorities.
4. Ensure storage and transport conditions do not jeopardise conformity. While the product is under the distributor's responsibility — typically warehousing, retail floor display, transport between premises — conditions must not affect compliance.
5. Take corrective measures and inform authorities when there are reasons to believe a product made available is not in conformity. Where the non-conformity presents a risk, immediate notification of the competent national authorities is required, with details of the non-conformity and corrective measures taken.
6. Cooperate with competent authorities on reasoned request, providing all information necessary to demonstrate conformity, and assisting in any action taken to eliminate risks.

What "verification" means in practice

The Commission's Blue Guide 2022 (§3.4) clarifies that the distributor's verification is procedural and visible, not technical. The distributor is not required to inspect the product against the essential requirements, re-test it, or assess the technical documentation. It is required to check that the documentary framework around the product is complete and plausible:

• Is the CE mark present, properly drawn, of correct size? Marks of unusual proportions, sub-5 mm marks without justification, or marks placed only on the box where on-product marking is feasible are visible non-conformities.
• Are the manufacturer's contact details on the product or packaging? Absence of name and address is a documentary infringement.
• Is the importer's contact information also present for third-country products? Where the manufacturer is non-EU and the product enters via an EU importer, both sets of details should appear.
• Are user instructions and safety information in the correct language(s)? A distributor selling a product in France must verify that French-language instructions accompany the product.
• Where required, does the EU Declaration of Conformity accompany the product? Some acts require the DoC to accompany the product (e.g., Machinery, Radio Equipment), others allow it to be available on request.

The distributor is not required to check that the EU Declaration of Conformity is materially correct in its substantive content — that responsibility lies with the manufacturer. Where, however, an obvious error appears on the face of the Declaration (an act listed that cannot apply to the product, a Notified Body number that does not match the act, a missing signature), the distributor cannot rely on the Declaration and must not make the product available.

When the distributor becomes the manufacturer

Under Article R6 of Decision 768/2008/EC, a distributor that:

• Places a product on the market under its own name or trademark; or
• Modifies a product already on the market in such a way that its conformity may be affected,

is treated as the manufacturer and assumes the full manufacturer obligations under Article R2. The threshold is functional: relabelling with the distributor's own brand triggers Article R6 even if no physical change is made to the product. Adding a translated label, where the manufacturer's translation was missing, does not by itself trigger Article R6 — the Blue Guide explicitly states that adding language packs is not a substantial modification.

Examples of distributor activities that trigger Article R6:

• Private-label resale of an OEM product under the distributor's brand;
• Re-packaging an industrial component as a finished consumer product;
• Modifying firmware in a way that changes product functionality before resale;
• Refurbishing a product to extend its service life in ways that change its risk profile.

Storage and transport

Article R5(4) places affirmative duties on the distributor for storage and transport conditions. Examples of distributor responsibility:

• A retailer storing batteries at temperatures outside the manufacturer's specified range, causing reduced safety;
• A logistics distributor failing to control humidity, causing damage to packaging that obscures CE marking;
• A warehouse stacking pressure equipment in a way that damages instructions or affixed labels.

Non-conformity arising from distributor-side conditions is the distributor's responsibility, not the manufacturer's. Where the original product was compliant when placed on the market, the manufacturer's liability under product safety law is limited to defects existing at that moment (Council Directive 85/374/EEC on product liability, Article 7(b)).

Sectoral additions

Medical Devices Regulation (EU) 2017/745, Article 14

Adds: verification that the importer has fulfilled its obligations under Article 13; verification that the device, where required, is accompanied by the information supplied by the manufacturer under Article 10(11); registration in EUDAMED in specific circumstances; reporting of complaints and incidents identified at the distributor's level. The distributor must maintain a register of complaints, non-conforming devices, and recalls (Article 14(4)). Distributors of implantable devices have specific obligations to issue the "implant card" under Article 18.

Toy Safety Regulation (EU) 2025/2509, Article 10

Adds: verification that warnings required by Annex VI are present in the language of the Member State where the toy is made available; verification that the toy is registered in the EU Toy Information System and has a Digital Product Passport identifier from 1 January 2026.

General Product Safety Regulation (EU) 2023/988, Article 12

For consumer products not covered by harmonised legislation, GPSR imposes parallel verification duties: traceability of the product, safety information in clear and visible form, internal procedures for handling complaints, notification of dangerous products via Safety Gate. Article 12 of GPSR applies even where a CE-marked product is in scope of sectoral legislation but the sectoral act does not address a particular GPSR obligation.

Construction Products Regulation (EU) 2024/3110

Distributors of construction products must verify that the Declaration of Performance (not Declaration of Conformity, for this Regulation) accompanies the product, and that the technical specifications, intended use, and assessment information are correctly stated (Article 18 of the Regulation).

E-commerce and online distribution

Distributors operating online face additional duties under the GPSR and the Digital Services Act:

• GPSR Article 19 — distance-selling distributors must include product information (manufacturer's name, contact, type/batch/serial, image, warnings) in the offer to the consumer.
• Digital Services Act, Article 31 (for online platforms allowing distance contracts) — verification of trader identity, traceability of products, and design of platforms to enable compliance.
• GPSR Article 22 — specific obligations for "providers of online marketplaces", which are not "distributors" in the classical sense but operate analogously and must implement traceability and notification systems.

See CE marking for e-commerce sellers for the full e-commerce obligations.

Edge cases

Hire, rental, and lease

Renting or leasing a product is a "making available on the market" if done in the course of a commercial activity (Blue Guide §2.2). Rental businesses are distributors and must perform the Article R5 verifications. Long-term lease arrangements may, depending on national law, trigger distributor-style obligations on the lessor.

Second-hand and refurbished products

A distributor selling second-hand products lawfully placed on the EU market is a distributor for the purposes of CE law and performs the Article R5 verifications, but is not required to re-test or re-certify the product. Where the product has been substantially modified by the distributor before resale, Article R6 may apply and the distributor becomes the manufacturer.

Free distribution and promotional samples

Distribution free of charge in the course of commercial activity is still "making available" and triggers distributor obligations. Distribution between private persons in non-commercial settings is outside the scope of CE legislation.

Cross-border distance sales within the EU

A distributor in one Member State selling to a consumer in another Member State must comply with the language and safety-information requirements of the Member State of destination, not those of the Member State of establishment.

Common errors

• No visible verification at point of receipt. Many small retailers and online sellers accept consignments without any documented verification of CE marking, contact details, or instructions. Market surveillance can later allege failure of the Article R5 duty even if the product later turns out to be compliant.
• Selling products without translated instructions. Stocking products with English-only documentation in a Member State requiring local-language instructions is a distributor infringement, separate from any underlying non-compliance.
• Failing to notify authorities of risk-presenting products. The duty to notify is not contingent on the distributor's certainty that the product is non-compliant. Where there is "reason to believe" a risk exists, notification is mandatory.
• Branding under the distributor's name without realising the consequences. Article R6 triggers a full manufacturer status. Many small private-label e-commerce sellers have inherited the manufacturer obligations without compiling a technical file.
• Mixing distributor and importer roles without clarity. An EU operator that imports from a third country and then distributes is both an importer (for the first making available) and a distributor (for subsequent ones). The importer obligations are stricter — verification of the conformity assessment procedure, traceability of the manufacturer, holding the Declaration. Treating the operation as "merely distribution" misses the importer duties.
• Inadequate storage controls. Storage failures (humidity damage, temperature excursions, label damage from stacking) shift responsibility to the distributor.
• Failure to cooperate with surveillance requests. Slow or incomplete responses to authority requests are themselves infringements under Article 7 of Regulation 2019/1020.

Distributor vs. importer vs. manufacturer responsibilities

Sources

• Decision No 768/2008/EC, Article R5 and Article R6 — EUR-Lex.
• Regulation (EU) 2019/1020, Article 7 — EUR-Lex.
• Regulation (EU) 2017/745 (MDR), Article 14 — EUR-Lex.
• Regulation (EU) 2023/988 (GPSR), Articles 12 and 19 — EUR-Lex.
• Commission Notice — Blue Guide 2022, Section 3.4 — EUR-Lex.