The EU authorised representative
If you are outside the EU, you need a real person or company inside it, with a written mandate, who can produce your documentation to an authority. Under the Cyber Resilience Act this is an explicit appointment. Under the Machinery Regulation it appears as the requirement that the person authorised to compile the technical file be established in the Union. Either way, a name on a declaration that nobody has actually asked is not compliance.
What the mandate must cover
The appointment is in writing and, at minimum, empowers the representative to:
- Keep the EU declaration of conformity and the technical documentation at the disposal of market surveillance authorities for the required retention period.
- Provide a national authority, on a reasoned request, with all information and documentation necessary to demonstrate conformity — in a language that authority can understand.
- Cooperate with authorities on any action taken to eliminate the risks posed by products covered by the mandate.
- Where relevant, inform the manufacturer if there is reason to believe a product is not in conformity.
Choosing one
- Established in the Union. A UK entity has not satisfied this since Brexit. A Swiss or Norwegian one does not satisfy it either.
- Contactable, and actually responsive. A reasoned request has a deadline. A representative who takes three weeks to answer email is a liability.
- Able to hold and retrieve documents for ten years. Ask what happens to your file if they cease trading. Keep your own copy regardless.
- Named on the product or documentation as the legislation requires — usually name and postal address.
- Covered by a mandate you have both signed, listing the specific products. A generic arrangement with no product list is worth very little when it is tested.
Importers are not representatives
A common and expensive confusion. An importer has its own separate duties: verifying that the manufacturer carried out the conformity assessment, that the documentation exists, that the product bears the CE marking, and that the importer's own name and address appear on the product or packaging. An importer is not automatically your authorised representative and does not hold your mandate unless you gave them one. If you put your own name or trademark on someone else's product, you become the manufacturer.
Get told when the requirements change
None of the 35 CRA harmonised standards is published yet. When they land — and when deadlines move — we email you. No more than twice a month.