What obligations does a distributor or trader of products have?
Check before delivery, do not deliver in case of doubt
A distributor or dealer checks whether a product is provided with the required markings, documentation and a digital product passport before the product is offered, and does not deliver it if this is not in order. These parties are not the manufacturer or the importer, but the last link that actually places the product on the market towards the end user — retail chains, wholesalers and web shops that resell products from EU manufacturers or importers fall under this. They do not need to test or certify the product themselves, but they must verify that the visible and digital documentation is present, and must take action as soon as there is reason to believe that a product does not meet the requirements.
Who this applies to and who it does not
The obligations under the ESPR for distributors and dealers apply to any party in the chain that offers a product on the market without being a manufacturer, authorised representative or importer themselves. Manufacturers, authorised representatives and importers have their own, more extensive obligations which are regulated elsewhere in the regulation — they are responsible for the conformity of the product itself and for drawing up the passport. A distributor or dealer does not need to redo that substantive conformity assessment; the role is one of control and vigilance, not production or import. Furthermore, these obligations only apply to product groups for which requirements have actually been established through a delegated act under the ESPR. As long as no requirements have been established for a product group, there is nothing specific to check under this regulation.
Entry into force when product-specific requirements are established, not yet everywhere
The ESPR itself is a framework regulation: the obligations for distributors and dealers from Articles 30 and 31 only become concretely applicable once a delegated act with requirements has been established for a product group and comes into force. There is no fixed date that applies to all product groups at the same time — that moment differs per product category and is determined separately per delegated act. Until that time, the existing rules already in force apply to a product (such as any sectoral legislation or current ecodesign rules), and not yet the additional requirements around the digital product passport. Anyone wishing to know whether a specific product group already falls under the new obligations should check the status of the delegated act for that specific product group.
What this means in practice, step by step
The first step is to check whether the products being purchased and resold fall under a product group for which requirements already apply under a delegated act to the ESPR — without that, there is no concrete inspection obligation yet. If this is the case, the next step is to check upon receipt of goods whether the product is accompanied by the required markings and whether the digital product passport is present and can be consulted, for example via the QR code or other data carrier on the product or packaging. If this check reveals that something is missing or incorrect, the third step is not to offer or deliver the product until this has been corrected, and to inform the manufacturer or importer accordingly. A fourth step is to keep records of these checks, so that if a supervisory authority has questions, it can be shown that the party's own role in the chain has been fulfilled. Finally, a distributor or dealer cooperates if a supervisory authority requests information or corrective measures, and passes on any complaints or signals about non-conformity to the party responsible for the product — usually the manufacturer or importer.
Where this is laid down: Articles 30 and 31 of the ESPR
These obligations follow from Article 30 and Article 31 of Regulation (EU) 2024/1781 (ESPR), which set out the role and responsibilities of distributors and traders within the chain of economic operators. These articles stand alongside the provisions concerning manufacturers, authorised representatives and importers elsewhere in the same regulation, and must be read in conjunction with the product-specific delegated acts to determine when and for which product they apply in concrete terms.
If a distributor or trader wishes to know whether this already applies to a specific assortment, the best approach is to check whether a delegated act under the ESPR has already been established for the product category in question, and to consult the full text of Article 30 and 31 via the official source below to clarify their own position in the chain.
Where this is based on
The regulation itself is on EUR-Lex. We provide references for each claim; you do not have to take our word for it.
What you must do concretely
What is expected of you
A distributor or dealer is someone who takes products into their assortment and sells them without having manufactured them or imported them from outside the EU. This sounds like a lighter role than that of a manufacturer or importer, and it is in essence — but the ESPR (Regulation (EU) 2024/1781) does lay down a number of concrete obligations for this link in the chain in Articles 30 and 31. Anyone who is unsure which role their business falls under will find more information at Am I an importer or manufacturer according to the ESPR?.
Check whether the digital product passport is present
Before a product is placed on the market, a distributor or dealer should check whether a digital product passport is present and whether the associated data carrier (usually a QR code) has been affixed to the product, the packaging or the accompanying documentation. For a company with 10 to 100 employees, this means in practice that the purchasing department or warehouse staff gets a fixed check step when receiving new products: is there a passport, is the QR code readable, and does it match the item coming in. This is not a substantive assessment of the data itself, but rather a check of presence.
Check whether the basic information is correct
In addition to the presence of the passport, it is also checked whether certain basic data match what is shown on the product — think of the name of the manufacturer and the designation of the product. This is a superficial test, not an in-depth investigation into the accuracy of all technical data in the passport. For a mid-sized company, this often means that a short checklist is introduced when goods are received, carried out by the same person who also checks other incoming documentation.
Do not supply if there is doubt
When a distributor or dealer has reason to assume that a product does not meet the requirements — for example because the passport is missing or clearly incorrect — they are expected not to place the product on the market until this is in order. This requires an internal process in which a flagged problem actually leads to withholding a delivery, rather than being passed on to the customer.
Passing on information in the chain
A distributor or dealer is also seen as a link that must be able to pass on relevant information, both to their own customers and back to the manufacturer or importer when a problem is flagged. For companies selling through an online marketplace there is an additional practical layer: the display of the QR code and the associated data must also be correct in that sales environment.
Cooperating with supervision
At the request of a competent authority, a distributor or dealer is expected to provide information and documentation about the product, and to cooperate in measures to eliminate risks of non-conformity. This requires that there is an internal contact point for such requests and that it is known where the relevant documentation (receipts, correspondence with the supplier, previous checks) can be found.
Where things go wrong in practice
A recurring pattern is that a dealer assumes that the presence of a QR code on the packaging is sufficient, without ever checking whether that code actually refers to a working passport. During a spot check — or when a customer complaint arises — the code then turns out to be a dead link.
A second situation is the webshop that resells products from multiple suppliers and automatically populates product pages based on a feed, without anyone checking whether the QR code in that feed belongs to the correct product. Especially with private label purchasing through multiple channels — see also who is liable for the product passport in the case of private label products — confusion arises about who has already performed which check.
A third, common situation: a distributor receives a signal from a customer that the data in a product passport is incorrect, but takes no action because "the manufacturer is responsible for that". The fact that the manufacturer or importer is ultimately responsible for the content does not exempt the trader from their own role to take such a signal seriously and escalate it. What exactly happens if incorrect data are reported and no one took action is described at who is liable if the product passport contains incorrect information.
A fourth situation arises with companies that purchase and resell products from multiple EU countries: the assumption that a product passport accepted in one country automatically complies everywhere. For those operating in multiple countries, it is wise to look into whether there are different rules per EU country for the product passport.
A fifth, less visible situation arises with a manufacturer outside the EU who sells via a European distributor: the distributor sometimes wrongly assumes that the role of importer and the associated heavier obligations automatically lie with someone else in the chain, when this depends on who actually brings the product onto the EU market first — see My manufacturer is outside the European Union — who arranges the product passport then?.
What you can document
- A fixed inspection procedure upon receipt of goods: who checks the presence and readability of the QR code, and how is that recorded.
- A log of reported discrepancies: which product, which date, which action taken (delivery held, manufacturer contacted, customer informed).
- Agreements with suppliers about which inspections have already been carried out, especially when purchasing through multiple channels or under own brand — relevant when setting up the process around selling under own brand.
- A fixed point of contact and a short protocol for requests from a supervisory authority, including where documentation is kept and how quickly it can be provided.
- An overview of your own role per product category, since the same company can be a distributor for one product and an importer for another — a good starting point is the question who is responsible for the product passport of products.
- A brief instruction for customer service: how to respond to a customer reporting that a QR code does not work or data is incorrect.
This is not legal advice. This page provides general information about the regulations that this platform concerns. We do not know your situation. If you are in doubt about your own case, consult a lawyer or the competent supervisory authority.
Written with AI on the basis of the sources above, checked by a human on 2026-08-22. Is something incorrect? Let us know — corrections are given priority.