Roles in CE Marking, the manufacturer, importer, distributor and more

Within the CE Marking there are different roles, which have different responsibilities when it comes to bringing products to the market. In this article we want to give a brief description of each role but we would point out that the specific obligation 

Manufacturer

The manufacturer is any natural or legal person who manufactures a product or has a product designed or manufactured, and places it on the market under his own name or trademark. 

The manufacturer is responsible for the conformity assessment of his products and has to ensure specific things such as traceability of the product.

Every manufacturer, no matter if they are based within the EU or outside of the EU has the same responsibilities when putting a product on the EU-market.

Note, that if you repackage a product already made that has CE Marking (or dont) and sell it onto the market you take up the role of the manufacturer. 

Importer

The importer is every natural or legal person who is based in the EU and who brings a product to the market from  a third state.

The importers responsibilities are based on the manufacturer's responsibilities. 

Distributor

The distributor is every natural or legal person within the delivery chain, who brings a product to the market, except of the manufacturer and the importer.

Authorised representative

This person is appointed by the manufacturer to fulfil certain obligations on his behalf. A manufacturer can designate an authorised representative regardless of whether the manufacturer is established inside or outside the EU.

Fulfillment service

A fulfillment service is every natural or legal person, which offers at least two of the following services: storage, packaging, addressing and dispatch of products to which it has no ownership rights. A fulfilment service is not a shipping company.

Within the regulation they are defined as economic actors and have  to work with market surveillance authorities.

Note: this is not a legal document, all information is based on the regulation (EU) 2019/1020, our goal with this article is simply giving you the (in our view) most important bits of information you need to know, when you want to bring a product on the EU market.