An economic operator is any business that EU product law holds responsible for a product. The term covers everyone who makes, imports, stores, ships or sells a product in the EU. Each role carries its own set of duties, and the same company can hold more than one role.
The roles matter because obligations follow them. The manufacturer designs the product and proves it complies. The importer checks that a product from outside the EU meets the rules before it enters. The dealer makes the information available to the customer. Getting your role right is the first step in any compliance plan, including the Digital Product Passport.
The six roles under ESPR
The Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) lists six economic operators:
- Manufacturer: makes a product, or has it designed or made, and markets it under its own name or trademark.
- Authorized representative: a person or company established in the EU with a written mandate to act for the manufacturer on specified tasks.
- Importer: established in the EU and places a product from a non-EU country on the EU market.
- Distributor: anyone else in the supply chain, other than the manufacturer or importer, that makes a product available on the market.
- Dealer: a distributor or other business that offers or displays products to end users, including through online and distance selling.
- Fulfilment service provider: offers at least two of warehousing, packaging, addressing and dispatching, without owning the products.
Other laws use similar lists. The General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR) and the Market Surveillance Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 use the same building blocks, with small differences in wording.
What each role must do for passports
- The operator placing the product on the market creates the passport, keeps a back-up copy with a DPP service provider and uploads the identifiers to the DPP registry.
- Manufacturers carry out the conformity assessment, draw up the technical documentation and the EU declaration of conformity, and affix the CE marking where required.
- Importers check that the conformity assessment was done, that the required information comes with the product, and that a passport and its back-up copy exist. They add their own name and contact details to the public part of the passport, where applicable, and to the product or its packaging.
- Distributors check that the product comes with the required information before making it available.
- Dealers make sure customers can easily reach the passport and see the required labels, including when selling online.
When roles change
A company's role is defined by what it does with a product, not by its job title. Under ESPR Article 34, an importer or distributor becomes the manufacturer if it:
- Sells a product under its own name or trademark, as with private-label goods, or
- Modifies a product already on the market in a way that affects compliance.
Private-label retailers and brands that outsource production are therefore manufacturers in the eyes of the law, with the full set of manufacturer duties.
How to prepare
- Map your role for each product line and each market. A brand can be the manufacturer for its own products and a distributor for others it resells.
- Name an EU-based responsible operator for anything you make outside the EU.
- Agree in writing who creates passports, who registers them and who pays for hosting and back-up copies.
- Check related duties that also follow roles, such as extended producer responsibility registrations, which use their own definition of "producer".
How Veribl helps
Veribl keeps each product's economic operator and manufacturer details in one place and publishes them in the public part of the Digital Product Passport. Suppliers answer material, substance and certificate requests through a portal, and their answers are signed and kept exactly as sent, so each operator can show where its data came from.
See the supplier portal in VeriblOfficial sources
Frequently asked questions
Who is the economic operator responsible for a Digital Product Passport?
The economic operator that places the product on the EU market or puts it into service. For products made in the EU this is usually the manufacturer; for imported products it is often the importer. That operator creates the passport, keeps a back-up copy with a DPP service provider and registers the identifiers in the EU DPP registry.
When does an importer or distributor become the manufacturer?
Under ESPR Article 34, an importer or distributor is treated as the manufacturer if it places a product on the market under its own name or trademark, or modifies a product already on the market in a way that affects compliance. It then takes on all of the manufacturer's obligations.
What is a fulfilment service provider?
A business that offers at least two of warehousing, packaging, addressing and dispatching products, without owning them. The definition comes from the Market Surveillance Regulation (EU) 2019/1020. In some cases a fulfilment service provider can be the EU-based operator responsible for a product sold by a non-EU brand.
Do I need an economic operator in the EU to sell products there?
For consumer products under the General Product Safety Regulation, yes. Article 16 says a product may not be placed on the market unless an economic operator established in the EU is responsible for it. That can be the manufacturer, an importer, an authorized representative or a fulfilment service provider. Many harmonized product laws contain a similar requirement.
What is a dealer under ESPR?
A distributor or any other person that offers products for sale, hire or hire purchase, or displays them, to end users in the course of a commercial activity, including online. Dealers must make sure customers can easily access the Digital Product Passport, including in distance selling.
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