What is Responsible Person?
The Responsible Person Service is a legal requirement as part of UK and EU product and labelling compliance responsibilities. Depending which EU/UK regulation the product is identified as will determine which set of rules, supporting documents and requirements are required.
Why do you need a Responsible Person?
Before expanding sales into the EU marketplace, it is vital that the product has been risk assessed and tested for safe use, this is usually done by the manufacturer and can be carried out by a third party. Any relevant registrations and certification for product specific regulatory bodies are required to be notified as part of the product compliance process.
Performing the steps towards regulatory compliance is a process that requires constant monitoring and updating, in the case of adjustments of the product, the supporting documents required to apply for Responsible Person will need to updated accordingly.
The role of the Responsible Person is to guarantee compliance before the European and UK authorities and product is safe for intended use and for monitoring and inspection purposes.
There are two fundamental requirements. Having both ensures you are fully compliant with the EU regulations and Amazons stringent policies for all sellers. Without responsible persons you could face hefty fines and the risk of your listings being removed. The responsible persons must be an economic operator with the UK & EU who is responsible for certain compliance tasks.
The required components are:
(1) A dedicated address on all your product labels for the economic operator who is acting as the designated responsible persons.
(2) A sample of each product stored at that address. This is the default address that Trading Standards will use for any compliance checks.
The technical bits:
EU Reg 1020 of 2019 – (d) the name, registered trade name or registered trade mark and the contact details, including the postal address, of an economic operator with tasks regarding the product subject to certain Union harmonisation legislation is not indicated or identifiable in accordance with Article 4(4);
and Article 4.4 says… Without prejudice to the respective obligations of economic operators under the applicable Union harmonisation legislation, the name, registered trade name or registered trade mark, and contact details, including the postal address, of the economic operator referred to in paragraph.
The simple solution to Responsible Person
Expandly can provide both options for you. Once we have certified your products and labels are compliant we will provide you with our responsible persons address (UK & EU). We will also store a sample of each product in our warehouse / fulfilment centres, which will be the same address as displayed on your labels.
If you’re unsure about the compliance of your products of labels, you can view our full compliance services
here.
Need more help?
If you would like more information, or t
o get started, please contact us and submit request form for consultation and the Team will be in touch to discuss.
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