Article 4 responsible economic operator under the EU Market Surveillance Regulation

Start with the product law, not the sales channel. Article 4 has applied since 16 July 2021. In the consolidated text dated 23 May 2024, Article 4(5) covers batteries and specified permanent-magnet duties under the Critical Raw Materials Act as well as 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, and personal protective equipment. Another product act can also make Article 4 applicable, as Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/945 does for specified 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 identifies four eligible 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, first check whether an EU fulfilment service provider handles the product. If none does, the Commission guidance points to a written Article 4 mandate for an authorised representative; without 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 or 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 does not make this operator the manufacturer, erase the duties of other economic operators, or certify that the product conforms.

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).