Chapter III, obligations of economic operators dealing with products
Article 10: Obligations of distributors
Distributors must act with due care, verify CE marking and documents before making a product available, and act when they have reason to believe it does not conform.
- Citation
- Article 10, CELEX 32019L0882 (Directive)
- Binds
- Any operator in the chain that is neither the manufacturer nor the importer.
- In the instrument
- Chapter III, obligations of economic operators dealing with products
- Applies from
- 28 June 2025 for products placed and services provided from that date (Article 31(2)). The Article 4(8) 112 duty may be deferred to 28 June 2027 where a member state uses Article 31(3).
- Source
- EUR-Lex, CELEX 32019L0882
What it requires
Paragraph 1 sets a due-care standard. Paragraph 2 lists what a distributor must check before making a product available: that it bears CE marking, that the required documents and the instructions and safety information accompany it in a language understood in the member state of supply, and that the manufacturer and importer have met their identification and contact duties.
Paragraphs 3 and 4 apply the stop rule and the custody rule. A distributor that considers or has reason to believe a product does not conform must not make it available until it is brought into conformity, and must tell the manufacturer or importer and the market surveillance authorities. Storage and transport while the product is under the distributor's responsibility must not jeopardise conformity.
Paragraphs 5 and 6 require corrective action or withdrawal where a product already made available is suspect, notice to the authorities, and cooperation with a reasoned authority request.
In practice
Put the distributor check at goods-in and attach it to the purchase order. The check needs four answers: does the unit bear CE marking, is the declaration present, are the instructions in a language understood in the destination member state, and are the manufacturer and importer identified with a contact address. A no to any of them is a stop, not a note for later.
What to do
- Check CE marking, documents and language at goods-in, not at the point of sale.
- Confirm the manufacturer and importer identification duties have been met.
- Stop supply when you have reason to believe the product does not conform.
- Tell the manufacturer or importer and the authority, and record the date.
- Keep storage and transport conditions that protect conformity.
Evidence to keep
- A goods-in checklist per product and batch.
- The stop-and-notify record where a doubt was raised.
- Storage and transport condition records.
- The authority cooperation log.
Dates
- 2025-06-28Applies to products made available from this date. (Article 2(1))
Cross-references
Where teams get this wrong
A distributor does not have to redesign the product, but the duty is not passive. The words reason to believe mean a complaint, a test result or a missing document can trigger the stop rule.
Read from the Official Journal text of Directive (EU) 2019/882, OJ L 151/70, 7 June 2019, Article 10. Check it yourself: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32019L0882. This page states the provision in our own words and is not legal advice; it does not certify any product or service.