ESPR market surveillance What evidence should teams prepare for authority checks

Prepare a product-level evidence file before a product covered by an ESPR delegated act is placed on the EU market or put into service. The record should show which delegated act applies, which ecodesign and information requirements were assessed, how conformity was demonstrated, and where the Digital Product Passport and supporting source data are maintained.

ESPR Article 66 requires Member States to include planned ESPR market surveillance activities in their national market surveillance strategies. Those activities can include document checks and, where appropriate, physical and laboratory checks. Article 69 then gives the authority response path when a product covered by a delegated act presents a risk: evaluation, required corrective action, and possible restriction, withdrawal, or recall if non-compliance is not corrected.

For products covered by a delegated act, the manufacturer must carry out the specified conformity assessment procedure, draw up technical documentation, draw up an EU declaration of conformity where compliance is demonstrated, and affix the required marking. The default ESPR retention rule for manufacturers is 10 years after the covered product is placed on the market or put into service, unless the relevant delegated act sets a different period.

Annex IV describes the internal production control file: product description and intended use, design and manufacturing drawings, explanations needed to understand the design and operation, standards or specifications used, design calculations, measurement results against ecodesign requirements, test reports, and a copy of information supplied under ESPR information requirements.

For an authority request, identify the product and delegated act, collect the requested conformity evidence, provide it in the required form and language, record what was sent, and track corrective action to closure.

ESPR gives specific response hooks. Manufacturers must provide all information and documentation necessary to demonstrate conformity after a reasoned request from a competent national authority, including technical documentation, in a language easily understood by that authority. They must respond in paper or electronic form as soon as possible and in any event within 15 days of receipt. Economic operators must also be able to provide supply-chain traceability information to market surveillance authorities for 10 years after receiving or supplying the relevant products, and that information must be provided in paper or electronic form within 15 days of the request.

The DPP should be treated as inspected product evidence, not only a customer-facing page. ESPR requires DPP data to be accurate, complete, and up to date, connected through a data carrier to a persistent unique product identifier, and structured so access rights can differ by actor and product group. Delegated acts decide the exact data set, carrier, layout, position, granularity, access rights, update rights, and availability period for the product group.

Annex III shows the kinds of DPP data delegated acts may require, including the unique product identifier, commodity codes, compliance documentation such as declarations of conformity and technical documentation, user manuals or warnings, manufacturer and importer information, responsible Union economic operator information, facility and operator identifiers, and the DPP service provider hosting the back-up copy.

The ESPR framework does not itself give every product-specific requirement. Product groups, performance requirements, information requirements, conformity modules, DPP fields, DPP access rights, and any market-surveillance support measures that are necessary for a product group come through delegated acts adopted under ESPR. A team should therefore keep a delegated-act watch list for every product family it sells or imports.

Member States set penalty amounts and national enforcement details. Article 74 requires penalties to be effective, proportionate and dissuasive. Its factors include the nature, gravity and duration of the infringement, intent or negligence where appropriate, the responsible person's financial situation, determinable economic benefit, environmental damage, mitigation or remediation, whether the infringement is repeated, and other aggravating or mitigating circumstances. Check the relevant national law for amounts and procedures.