CECheck The reference for CE marking

Distributor obligations

Last reviewed: October 2026 · Sources listed at the end of this page.

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, online shops and marketplace sellers reselling goods already on the EU market, and hire businesses. The distributor's obligations are set out in Article R5 of Decision 768/2008/EC and repeated in the aligned sectoral acts. 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 supplies the product for distribution, consumption, or use on the EU market in the course of a commercial activity, whether in return for payment or free of charge (Regulation 765/2008, Article 2(1)). Every such supply downstream of placing on the market is a making-available, and Article R5(2) requires the checks before it.

At a glance. Before supplying a product, a distributor checks that the CE mark is there, that the required documents and instructions accompany it in the right language, and that the manufacturer and importer details and a product identifier are present. These duties are in force. A distributor never needs a Notified Body of its own. Rebranding or modifying the product makes it the manufacturer. Key date: for products placed on the market after 9 December 2026, the new Product Liability Directive can make a distributor liable if it fails to identify its supplier within one month.

Legal basis

The obligations under Article R5

Article R5 of Decision 768/2008/EC has five paragraphs. Read with Article R7, they set 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 product bears the required conformity marking, such as the CE marking;
    • The product is accompanied by the required documents, and by instructions and safety information in a language easily understood by consumers and other end-users in the Member State where it is to be made available;
    • The manufacturer and, for imports, the importer have complied with the traceability requirements (name, address, type/batch/serial number on the product or, where permitted, on the packaging or accompanying document);
    • 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. Make sure corrective measures are taken and inform authorities when there are reasons to believe a product made available is not in conformity. The distributor need not carry out the measures itself; it contacts the manufacturer or importer. 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.
  7. Identify suppliers and customers. On request, the distributor must identify any economic operator that supplied it or that it supplied, typically for ten years (Article R7). Sales to end users are not covered.

What "verification" means in practice

The Commission's Blue Guide 2022 (section 3.4) describes these as formal requirements. The distributor is not required to inspect the product against the essential requirements, re-test it, or assess the technical documentation, nor to check whether a product already placed on the market still meets rules that have since changed. It must, however, know which products need CE marking and what should accompany them, and be able to show an authority that it acted with due care:

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:

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. Article R6 does not address translations. The test is whether compliance may be affected. The MDR is the clearest sectoral rule: Article 16(2) says translating manufacturer information and certain repackaging are not modifications, subject to the conditions in Article 16(3) and (4), including 28 days' notice.

Examples of distributor activities that trigger Article R6:

Storage and transport

Article R5(3) places affirmative duties on the distributor for storage and transport conditions. Examples of distributor responsibility:

Non-conformity arising from distributor-side conditions is the distributor's responsibility under Article R5(3). Civil liability is a separate question. For products placed on the market before 9 December 2026, Council Directive 85/374/EEC still applies, and a producer is generally not liable for a defect that did not exist when the product was put into circulation (Article 7(b)). For later products, Directive (EU) 2024/2853 applies. A distributor is liable under it where no EU-established manufacturer, importer or other liable operator can be identified and it fails, within one month of a request, to identify one or its own supplier (Article 8(3)).

Sectoral additions

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

Adds: verification that the EU Declaration of Conformity has been drawn up, that the device is accompanied by the information supplied by the manufacturer under Article 10(11), that for imported devices the importer has complied with Article 13(3), and that a UDI has been assigned where applicable (Article 14(2)); forwarding of complaints and suspected-incident reports to the manufacturer. The distributor must maintain a register of complaints, non-conforming devices, and recalls (Article 14(5)).

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

Adds: verification that the instructions, safety information and Article 6 warnings are in a language easily understood in the Member State where the toy is made available; verification that the Digital Product Passport data carrier is affixed (Article 19(7)); notification of risk-presenting toys to market surveillance authorities through the Safety Business Gateway. These obligations apply from 1 August 2030 (Article 59).

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

For consumer products not covered by harmonised legislation, Article 12 imposes parallel duties: verifying traceability and safety information, and informing authorities of dangerous products through the Safety Business Gateway. Article 12 does not apply to products subject to harmonisation legislation (Article 2(1)). Article 19 (distance sales) and Article 20 (accidents) do: a distributor who learns of an accident caused by a product must inform the manufacturer without undue delay.

Construction Products Regulation (EU) 2024/3110

Distributors of construction products must verify that the product bears the CE marking, that it is accompanied, where required, by the declaration of performance and conformity (not a standard EU Declaration of Conformity), and that the general product information, instructions for use and safety information are supplied in the required language (Article 25 of the Regulation).

E-commerce and online distribution

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

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

Edge cases

Hire, rental, and lease

Hire and leasing are forms of making available (Blue Guide, section 2.2). A hire business that takes stock already on the EU market is a distributor for that first supply. Repeated renting of the same unit is not a new placing on the market, and the product needs to comply with the legislation in force when it was first rented.

Second-hand and refurbished products

Harmonisation legislation applies when a product is first made available on the Union market, not each time a used product already on that market is resold (Blue Guide, sections 2.1 and 2.5). A dealer reselling such goods therefore does not re-assess or re-mark them. Used products supplied commercially to consumers fall under the GPSR (Article 2(3)), unless clearly marked as needing repair or reconditioning first. Two situations change the analysis. A used product imported from outside the Union is treated as newly placed on the market, and whoever places it there assumes the role of manufacturer (Blue Guide, section 3.1). A product substantially modified before resale may count as new, and Article R6 may make the reseller 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

Distributor vs. importer vs. manufacturer responsibilities

FunctionManufacturerImporterDistributor
Perform conformity assessmentYesNo (verifies)No
Compile technical documentationYesNoNo
Draw up Declaration of ConformityYesNoNo
Affix CE markingYesNoNo
Verify presence of CE marking—YesYes
Verify accompanying documents—YesYes
Verify manufacturer's traceability—YesYes
Add own contact detailsYesYesNo
Hold copy of Declaration of Conformity for 10 yearsYesYesNo (must be available from importer/AR)
Verify technical documentation can be made availableYes (holder)Yes (Art. 4 of 2019/1020)No
Notify authorities of risk-presenting non-conformityYesYesYes
Cooperate with surveillanceYesYesYes

Frequently asked questions

Does a retailer need the Declaration of Conformity?

Only where the applicable act requires the Declaration to accompany the product, as under the Machinery Regulation or the RED in simplified or full form. Otherwise the distributor must be able to help authorities find the operator holding it.

Is a retailer who imports directly from China a distributor?

No. An EU business that places a third-country product on the EU market is the importer for that product, with the stricter Article R4 duties.

Does a distributor have to test products?

No. The checks are formal: marking, documents, instructions and traceability details. If it has reason to believe a product is not in conformity, it must not supply it until that is resolved.

Does selling under my own brand change my role?

Yes. A distributor that places a product on the market under its own name or trademark is treated as the manufacturer under Article R6.

Sources

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