Authorised Representative
Definition
An authorised representative is a natural or legal person established in the Union who has received a written mandate from a manufacturer to act on its behalf in relation to specified tasks arising from that manufacturer’s obligations under Union legislation.
Expanded Explanation
The mandate is the whole of the role. A representative may only do what the mandate assigns, and certain duties cannot be delegated at all: the manufacturer remains responsible for designing the product to meet requirements, for the technical documentation and for the conformity assessment itself.
Typical mandated tasks are keeping the EU declaration of conformity and the technical documentation available to authorities, cooperating with authorities on request, and providing the information needed to demonstrate conformity. Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 additionally requires, for certain product categories, that an economic operator established in the Union exists as a contact point before products can be placed on the market.
For Digital Product Passports, the representative is often the practical respondent to an authority request even though the underlying data originates with a manufacturer outside the Union.
Why It Matters
Where a manufacturer is established outside the Union, the authorised representative is frequently the only party an authority can reach quickly. An unclear or stale mandate becomes a compliance failure at exactly the wrong moment.
Legal and Regulatory Context
Regulation (EU) 2024/1781 sets the obligations of authorised representatives for ecodesign requirements. Regulation (EU) 2019/1020, Article 4, sets the wider requirement for a responsible economic operator in the Union.
Relationship to Adjacent Concepts
The authorised representative is one of the economic operator roles, alongside manufacturer, importer, distributor and fulfilment service provider.
Common Misconceptions
It does not. The manufacturer keeps responsibility for conformity. The representative carries only the tasks the written mandate assigns.
Related Terms
- Economic Operator
- Technical Documentation
- EU Declaration of Conformity
- Market Surveillance Authority
Related Knowledge Base Articles
Related Articles
- Conformity Assessment
- Corrective Action
- EU Declaration of Conformity
- Harmonised Standard
- Market Surveillance
- Market Surveillance Authority
- Notified Body
- Presumption of Conformity
See Also
References
- Regulation (EU) 2024/1781 establishing a framework for ecodesign requirements: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2024/1781/oj
- Regulation (EU) 2019/1020, Article 4: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2019/1020/oj
About This Article
tieback Knowledge is a continuously maintained reference library covering Digital Product Passports, product traceability, product compliance and related regulations. Articles are reviewed regularly as legislation, standards and implementation guidance evolve.