FAQEU DSA

DSA marketplace trader traceability what must marketplaces do?

Online platforms that let consumers in the Union conclude distance contracts with traders must collect identity and compliance information before traders offer products or services.

The practical workflow is seller onboarding, reliability checks, consumer-facing disclosure, secure retention, and suspension when required information is missing or not fixed.

Author
Sorena AI
Published
May 9, 2026
Updated
Oct 15, 2026
Overview

Under the EU Digital Services Act, an has a seller-onboarding, disclosure, and maintenance duty called marketplace traceability. Article 30 applies to online platforms that allow consumers to conclude distance contracts with traders, subject to the Article 29 exclusion for qualifying micro and small providers and its post-loss and VLOP rules. Covered providers collect specified trader information, make best efforts to check that it is reliable and complete, show key trader information to consumers, keep the records securely for the required period, and suspend trader access where missing or defective information is not remedied.

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5 of 5 questions
Question 1

What does DSA marketplace trader traceability require?

For an in scope of Article 30, first record whether Article 29 excludes the marketplace section because the provider qualifies as micro or small. Where Article 30 applies, a should not be able to promote messages about products or services, or offer products or services to consumers located in the Union, until the platform has obtained the required trader information.

The marketplace also has to make best efforts to assess whether the information is reliable and complete before the uses the service. That assessment can use freely accessible official databases or online interfaces made available by a Member State or the Union, or supporting documents from reliable sources requested from the trader.

Article 30 gave covered marketplaces 12 months from 17 February 2024 to obtain the required information from traders already using the service. That transition ended on 17 February 2025, so a covered marketplace should not treat a pre-existing as exempt from the current onboarding and maintenance control.

  • Collect the 's name, address, telephone number, and email address where applicable.
  • Collect a copy of the 's identification document or qualifying electronic identification.
  • Collect payment account details and, where applicable, trade-register details and registration number or equivalent identifier.
  • Collect the 's self-certification committing to offer only products or services that comply with applicable Union law.
  • Block marketplace use for EU consumer offers until the Article 30 information has been obtained and checked for reliability and completeness through best efforts.

How should an handle traceability under the EU Digital Services Act?

Treat it as a seller-onboarding and seller-maintenance control. Before a can offer products or services to consumers in the Union, collect the Article 30 identity, contact, payment, register, and self-certification information; make best efforts to check that the information is reliable and complete; show the required trader identity, register, and compliance self-certification information where the product or service is presented; store the collected information securely during the trader relationship and for six months afterward; and suspend the trader if missing or inaccurate information is not remedied.

Question 2

What must be visible to consumers?

Article 30 separates internal collection from consumer-facing disclosure. The marketplace does not publish every collected item, but it must make the 's name and contact information, trade-register information where applicable, and the trader's compliance self-certification available to recipients of the service in a clear, easily accessible, and comprehensible way.

The marketplace must make that information available on the online interface where the product or service is presented. Identification documents and payment-account details belong in the internal traceability record, not the Article 30(7) consumer disclosure.

  • Show the name, address, telephone number, and email address in the product or service flow where consumers can find it before buying.
  • Show the trade register and registration number or equivalent identifier when the is registered in such a register.
  • Show the 's self-certification that products or services offered through the marketplace comply with applicable Union law.
  • Do not expose identification documents or payment account details to consumers unless another applicable law requires disclosure.
Question 3

What should the marketplace do when information is missing or unreliable?

If the marketplace has sufficient indications or reason to believe that Article 30 information is inaccurate, incomplete, or not up to date, it must ask the trader to remedy the problem without delay or within the period set by Union and national law.

If the does not correct or complete the information, the marketplace must swiftly suspend the service for that trader in relation to products or services offered to consumers located in the Union. A refusal or suspension decision also connects to the DSA complaint routes available to the trader.

  • Log the signal that made the data appear inaccurate, incomplete, or stale.
  • Send a remediation request that identifies the exact missing or defective Article 30 field.
  • Pause or prevent EU consumer offers where the required information is not supplied or corrected.
  • Keep evidence of the request, response, suspension decision, and any complaint handling.
Question 4

How do Article 31 and Article 32 connect to traceability?

traceability should be implemented together with Article 31 marketplace interface controls. The interface must let traders provide required pre-contractual, compliance, and product safety information, including product or service identification, trader signs such as a trademark or logo, and applicable labelling and marking information.

After a is allowed to offer products or services, the marketplace must make reasonable efforts to randomly check official, freely accessible, machine-readable databases or interfaces to see whether offered products or services have been identified as illegal.

If the marketplace becomes aware that a offered an illegal product or service through the service, Article 32 covers consumers who bought it during the preceding six months. Where their contact details are available, the marketplace must inform them of the illegality, the trader's identity, and relevant redress. If it lacks contact details for all affected consumers, it must make the same information public and easily accessible on its interface.

  • Design listing forms so traders can provide product or service identification, economic-operator details, signs, and applicable labelling or marking information.
  • Before listing, make best efforts to assess whether traders have provided the Article 31 information.
  • After listing, make reasonable random checks against official accessible databases or interfaces for illegal products or services.
  • When an illegal product or service is identified, determine the preceding six-month purchaser population and keep evidence of the illegality notice, identity, relevant redress, direct notices sent, and any public interface notice.
Question 5

What evidence should teams keep?

Keep evidence showing how the marketplace enforced Article 30 in seller onboarding and live seller maintenance. Store the collected data securely, document how reliability and completeness were assessed, and tie each trader status change to the relevant product or service flow.

Article 30 requires secure storage during the contractual relationship and for six months after it ends, followed by deletion. Disclosure to third parties should be limited to cases required by applicable law, including DSA orders and competent-authority or Commission orders.

  • Seller onboarding record with each Article 30 field, collection timestamp, source, verifier, and result.
  • Reliability check evidence, such as official database lookup result, electronic identification check, or supporting document request and response.
  • Consumer-facing disclosure screenshot or rendered-page capture showing the information on the product or service interface.
  • Issue log for incomplete, inaccurate, or outdated information, including remediation request, deadline, suspension, reinstatement, and complaint handling.
  • Retention and deletion record showing secure storage through the relationship and deletion after the six-month post-relationship period.
Primary sources

References and citations

eur-lex.europa.eu6 citations
Referenced sections
  • Primary legal text for Article 30 trader traceability, Article 31 compliance-by-design marketplace interfaces, and Article 32 illegal product or service information duties.
  • Article 30 sets the trader traceability rule for online platforms that let consumers conclude distance contracts with traders.
  • Article 30(7) specifies which trader information must be made available on the online platform interface.
Show 3 more
  • Article 30(3) requires remediation requests and swift suspension when inaccurate, incomplete, or outdated trader information is not corrected.
  • Articles 31 and 32 set marketplace interface and random-check duties, the preceding six-month purchaser lookback, and the required illegal-product or service notice content.
  • Article 30(5) requires secure storage for six months after the trader relationship ends and subsequent deletion.
"Traceability of traders"
More quoted passages
"clear, easily accessible and comprehensible"
"inaccurate, incomplete or not up-to-date"
"Compliance by design"
"store the information"
digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu3 citations
Referenced sections
  • Commission page for the DSA working group dealing with consumers and online marketplaces, including Articles 30-32.
  • Commission page confirms that Working Group 5 covers consumers and online marketplaces, especially DSA Articles 30-32.
  • Commission page places Articles 30-32 in the consumer and online marketplace workstream.
"Articles 30-32"
More quoted passages
"Consumers and online marketplaces"
digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu3 citations
Referenced sections
  • Commission overview confirming that marketplaces are covered DSA services and that verified sellers improve consumer transparency.
  • Commission overview identifies marketplaces as covered services and explains verified-seller transparency for consumers.
  • Commission overview explains that marketplaces must verify and display seller contact details for consumer transparency.
"Marketplaces must verify"
More quoted passages
"Verified sellers"
"whom you’re buying goods or services from"
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