e-Commerce Changes July 2021: CE-marked products

A new change yet to come in July for all companies is regarding CE-marked products that are imported in the EU. 

What does CE stand for in products?

The CE sticker is very commonly found in products imported in the EU and it represents the manufacturer’s declaration that the specific products comply with the EU’s directives. CE stands for “Conformitè Europëenne” and it is EU’s mandatory conformity in standards for products imported and sold in the EU

July changes for CE-marked products

A new EU regulation is coming into play in July 2021 where CE-marked products will have to have someone present in the European Union acting as the point of contact for the product’s compliance. Namely a “Responsible Person”.

As a result, all companies selling CE-marked products will have to assign a “Responsible Person” in the EU prior to July 16 2021. After this date it will be illegal to sell CE-marked products without an EU Responsible Person.

Another requirement that comes into play is that all CE-marked products will have to be labelled with the contact information of the responsible person. The information could be on the product itself, or the packaging/parcel.

Who can be an EU Responsible Person?

An EU Responsible Person can be one of the following:

• A manufacturer or brand, if they are established in the EU.
• An importer who is established in the EU.
• An authorized representative established in the EU, who is appointed in writing as the Responsible Person by the manufacturer or brand.
• A fulfilment service provider established in the EU such as Amazon.

What does the Responsible Person have to do?

The Responsible Person is required to do the following:

• Collect the product’s EU Declaration of Conformity (or Declaration of Performance) and ensure that additional documents demonstrating EU conformity of the product can be made available from the manufacturer or brand owner upon request in a language understood by an authority
• Inform authorities of any risk posed by the product
• Cooperate with market surveillance authorities, including ensuring that the manufacturer or brand owner takes necessary corrective actions to remedy any non-compliance of the product.

Amazon Sellers

Amazon will offer this type of service to Amazon sellers using fulfilment by Amazon and it can act as a Responsible Person on the seller’s behalf.