Article 4 responsible economic operator under the EU Market Surveillance Regulation

Start with the product law, not the sales channel. Article 4 applies where the product is subject to the legislation listed in Article 4(5), including product areas such as toys, electrical equipment, radio equipment, EMC, RoHS, ecodesign, gas appliances, construction products, machinery, outdoor noise, ATEX, pressure equipment, simple pressure vessels, pyrotechnics, recreational craft, measuring instruments, non-automatic weighing instruments, personal protective equipment, and unmanned aircraft systems.

Online and other distance sales are not outside scope. Under Article 6, products offered online or by distance sale are treated as made available on the market when the offer is targeted at end users in the Union, assessed case by case using factors such as dispatch geography, order language, and payment options.

Article 4 creates a hierarchy of EU-established actors. The role can be held by an EU manufacturer, an importer where the manufacturer is outside the Union, an authorised representative with a written mandate for the Article 4(3) tasks, or an EU fulfilment service provider for products it handles when no EU manufacturer, importer, or mandated authorised representative exists.

For direct shipment from outside the EU to an EU end user, the Commission guidance points to a written Article 4 mandate for an authorised representative. If the manufacturer has not appointed one, the covered product may not be offered for sale to EU end users.

The Article 4 economic operator is the authority-facing EU contact for defined compliance tasks. Where the applicable product law requires an EU declaration of conformity, declaration of performance, and technical documentation, the operator must verify that those records have been drawn up, keep the declaration available to market surveillance authorities for the required period, and ensure the technical documentation can be made available on request.

The same operator must provide information and documentation needed to demonstrate conformity after a reasoned authority request, inform market surveillance authorities when it has reason to believe the product presents a risk, and cooperate so immediate corrective action is taken or risk is mitigated.

Article 4(4) requires the operator's name, registered trade name or registered trade mark, and contact details, including postal address, to appear on the product, packaging, parcel, or an accompanying document. A website can help, but the Commission guidance says it is not a replacement for a postal address.

This information matters at the border as well as after release. Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 allows release for free circulation to be suspended where the Article 4 economic operator's name and contact details are not indicated or identifiable in accordance with Article 4(4).