§3.1.2 I am an authorised representative: what are my obligations under the GPSR?

Who is an authorised representative? The GPSR defines an authorised representative as any natural or legal person established within the Union who has received a written mandate from a manufacturer to act on that manufacturer’s behalf in relation to specified tasks with regard to the manufacturer’s obligations under the GPSR. An authorised representative is someone who acts on behalf of a manufacturer. The authorised representative (sometimes called an agent or agency) must have a written mandate or power of attorney from the manufacturer. (22) This mandate sets out the tasks to be performed by the authorised representative. An authorised representative should not only have the formal competence to represent the manufacturer but also have the practical and administrative capacity to efficiently manage his obligations as specified in the mandate from the manufacturer, as well as his own obligations under the GPSR. An authorised representative should probably have sufficient knowledge of the language(s) necessary to communicate with the relevant market surveillance authorities, besides the necessary legal and factual knowledge. In the mandate, the manufacturer asks you to perform at least the following main tasks to provide according to the GPSR, but a mandate may of course cover a wider range of tasks according to your general freedom of contract: — to provide market surveillance authorities with all information and documentation necessary to demonstrate the safety of a product covered by your mandate in an official language which can be understood by the relevant authorities. — if there is reason to believe or suspect that a product under your mandate is dangerous, to inform the manufacturer thereof; — to notify the competent national authorities via a notification to the Safety Business Gateway (see part 3.4.3) about any action taken to eliminate risks posed by product(s) covered by the mandate, unless information about these risks has been provided by the manufacturer already; and — to cooperate with the competent national authorities at their request on any action taken to eliminate risks posed by products covered by the mandate. On request, you must provide market surveillance authorities with a copy of this mandate. Internal processes: you should have internal processes for product safety in place that allow you to comply with your obligations under the GPSR (e.g., quality controls, complaint handling, knowledge of EU legislation via training of staff on product safety and the introduction of product safety learning paths). You should fully cooperate with market surveillance authorities on product safety aspects (as explained in point 3.4.5.). It is also important to underline that you can also be designated by the manufacturer to perform the tasks of the responsible person for the product. In this case, you will be subject to the additional obligations of the responsible person as explained in point 3.2. Check list for the authorised representative ✓ Make sure that you have a written mandate from the manufacturer specifying the tasks you are asked to perform. ✓ Make sure that you have the capacity to perform the tasks under the mandate as well your other tasks. ✓ You will be mandated for at least for: — Providing information and documentation to authorities — Informing the manufacturer in case of suspicion that its product is dangerous — Notifying national authorities about corrective measures taken against dangerous products, via the Safety Business Gateway, if manufacturer has not done so — Cooperating with national authorities upon request on action against dangerous products. ✓ Provide a copy of your mandate upon request of market surveillance authorities. ✓ Set up internal processes for product safety. ✓ Cooperate fully with national authorities. ✓ Check whether you are asked to perform the tasks of the responsible person in the EU, if so, it entails additional tasks for you (see part 3.2). For more details, refer to the section 3.1.2. on authorised representative’s obligations.

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