Hello Anon
Are you looking at Article 4? That part talks about how the CA needs to be able to work with someone located in the EU. If the manufacturer is there, that's their contact. If not, it's the importer who has those kinds of responsibilities, and/or the manufacturer's representative if they have one. It's not so much that you "use" an importer, as that the importer is subject to those rules.
Paragraph (18) of the whereas'es may help to clarify that:
A fairer single market should ensure equal conditions for competition to all economic operators and protection
against unfair competition. To this end, strengthened enforcement of Union harmonisation legislation on
products is necessary. Good cooperation between manufacturers and the market surveillance authorities is a key
element, allowing immediate intervention and corrective action in relation to the product. It is important that, for
certain products, there should be an economic operator established in the Union so that market surveillance
authorities have someone to whom requests can be addressed, including requests for information regarding
a product's compliance with Union harmonisation legislation, and who can cooperate with market surveillance
authorities in making sure that immediate corrective action is taken to remedy instances of non-compliance. The
economic operators who should perform those tasks are the manufacturer, or the importer when the
manufacturer is not established in the Union, or an authorised representative mandated by the manufacturer for
this purpose, or a fulfilment service provider established in the Union for products handled by it when no other
economic operator is established in the Union.
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Anne LeBlanc
United States
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Original Message:
Sent: 12-Dec-2022 12:29
From: Anonymous Member
Subject: Authorised rep needed for Low voltage directive
This message was posted by a user wishing to remain anonymous
Hi Everyone,
We currently are looking to sell a product in the EU under the low voltage directive. The product is manufactured outside the EU, and I am trying to figure out if an authorized rep will be required. The LVD says in Article 7.1, "A manufacturer may, by a written mandate, appoint an authorised representative." but regulation 2019/1020 on market surveillance and compliance of products also applies to this directive and requires the manufacturer to be in the EU. Can anyone provide any clarity on how these two regulations work together and if an authorized rep will be needed or could we possibly use an importer instead?
Thank you!