§4.2.2.1 The requirement to indicate name and address for manufacturers

Manufacturers must indicate the following three elements: their (1) name, registered trade name or registered trade mark and (2) the address at which they can be contacted on the product, or, where that is not possible, on its packaging and / or in a document accompanying the product. The name and address must, as a rule, be affixed to the product. However, it may exceptionally be moved from the product if this rule cannot be followed. This would be justified where affixing it to the product was not possible under reasonable technical or economic conditions excluding however esthetical reasons. It is up to the manufacturer to make this assessment. This assessment has to be done according to the size or nature of the product (212). Some products e.g. hearing aids, sensors or the like are simply too small to carry such information. In such cases the order of priority is that as a first alternative the information should be on the packaging, as a second alternative on an accompanying document such as the instructions for use, except for the cases where sectoral Union harmonisation legislation requires the information to be on both the packaging and accompanying documents. The manufacturer has to comply with this obligation regardless of his location (within or outside the EU). This provision implies that products sold without packaging or any accompanying documents, must bear the name and address of the manufacturer on the product itself. The address must indicate a single point at which the manufacturer can be contacted, in particular by market surveillance authorities. The legal text obliges the manufacturer to put a single contact point on the product. Only one single contact point in each product is allowed. This is not necessarily the address where the manufacturer is actually established. This address can for example be the one of the authorised representative or of the customer services. The single contact point does not need to be in every Member State where the product is made available. The manufacturer may however put other addresses (213) provided that it is clear which one is the single contact point. The latter is then to be indicated on the product/documentation as the ‘single contact point’. The address or the country does not necessarily have to be translated into the language of the Member State where the product is made available on the market but the characters of the language used must allow identifying the origin and the name of the company. A website address may be given in addition to, but not instead of a postal address. Normally an address consists of a street and number or post-box and number and the postal code and town, but some countries might deviate from this model. Also, it is useful to include an email address and/or phone number to facilitate swift contacts with the relevant authorities.

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-09-07