I sell electronics under my own brand — what obligations do I get?
Your own brand makes you a manufacturer
Whoever places electronics on the market under their own brand name is treated as the manufacturer of that product under the ESPR — even if the manufacturing itself takes place elsewhere. This follows from Article 27 of Regulation (EU) 2024/1781 (ESPR): not the party that physically assembles the product, but the party whose name or brand appears on the product or packaging, bears responsibility for the manufacturer obligations. For a company that, for example, has white goods, laptops or other electronics manufactured by a third party and subsequently sells them under its own brand, this means that the obligations regarding technical documentation, conformity and the digital product passport fall on that company itself, and not automatically on the factory that built the product.
Who this applies to and who it does not
This applies to any party that places its own name, brand or business name on a product or its packaging, regardless of whether it develops the product itself, has it manufactured at a factory in the EU or elsewhere, or merely relabels an existing product. The origin of the product is irrelevant — what matters is whose identity as a producer is presented to the outside world.
It does not apply to anyone who simply resells a product under the brand of the original manufacturer, without adding their own name or brand. That party then acts as a distributor or importer, and those roles have their own obligations that are regulated elsewhere in the ESPR and are not the same as the manufacturer obligations of Article 27. The difference between "putting your own brand on it" and "reselling someone else's brand" is therefore the pivotal point: if you are unsure whether your own corporate identity, sub-brand or private label qualifies as an "own brand" within the meaning of this article, it is advisable to check this against the official text, because the classification determines which obligations will apply.
No fixed date yet, but a fixed route
There is no fixed entry date for electronics and ICT equipment yet. The ESPR works with delegated acts per product category, and for electronics and ICT such an act is expected, according to the 2025-2030 work plan, at the earliest from 2027 onwards. As long as that act does not exist, the concrete product requirements and the obligation to have a digital product passport do not yet apply for this category. As soon as the delegated act for the relevant sub-category has been published, the date on which the obligations come into force will be stated here.
That does not mean there is nothing to do until then. The classification as a manufacturer already follows from Article 27 itself, and that classification does not change when the delegated act is published — that act adds the concrete product requirements, not the question of who is responsible for them.
How to approach this
Anyone selling under their own brand can best approach this subject in this order. First, determine whether your own name, brand or business name will actually appear on the product or packaging — that is the moment when the manufacturer role arises, regardless of who actually builds the product. Then map out what information from the actual producer is needed to meet the manufacturer obligations: technical documentation, material and composition data, and soon the data that must be included in the digital product passport. That information must come from the factory or supplier, but the responsibility to keep it complete, correct and available lies with the brand holder, not with the factory.
After that, it is advisable to establish contractual agreements with the factory or supplier regarding the supply of this data, including updates when a product changes. Finally, it is important to monitor when the delegated act for your own product category is published, because only from that moment onwards will it become clear which specific data the digital product passport must contain and from when.
The legal basis: Article 27 ESPR
The essence of all this is contained in Article 27 of Regulation (EU) 2024/1781 (ESPR), which governs the obligations of manufacturers and stipulates that anyone who places a product on the market under their own name or brand is treated as a manufacturer for the purposes of the regulation. That article forms the basis for all other manufacturer obligations contained in the ESPR, including those related to the digital product passport.
Anyone wishing to check whether their own situation falls precisely under this description will find the full text of Article 27 in Regulation (EU) 2024/1781 via the link below. For companies already selling electronics under their own brand, it is advisable to already inventory which technical data are available from the supplier or factory, so that this foundation is in place as soon as the delegated act for your own product category is published.
What this is based on
The regulation itself is on EUR-Lex. We provide references per statement; you do not have to take our word for it.
What you must concretely do
What is expected of you
Putting electronics on the market under your own brand means, according to Article 27 of the ESPR (Regulation (EU) 2024/1781), that the role of manufacturer falls to you — even if you don't produce anything yourself. Putting a name or brand on a product and selling it as your own product is equivalent to manufacturing it under this regulation. Who is the manufacturer and what that precisely means is described in more detail on Who is responsible for the product passport for electronics?Several obligations frequently recur in this regard.
Ensuring the product meets the requirements
The manufacturer ensures that the product complies with the ecological design requirements applicable to that product category before it is placed on the EU market. For a company with 10 to 100 employees, this means that someone within the organisation must be responsible for collecting and assessing the technical information supplied by the actual producer — even if production is completely outsourced to a factory outside the EU.
Drawing up and maintaining the digital product passport
The manufacturer draws up the digital product passport and ensures that the data in it is correct and up to date. In practice, this means that a brand owner is dependent on the data supplied by the factory, but remains responsible for its accuracy towards the market. Who precisely is responsible for the accuracy of that data and who signs off on it is elaborated further on who must sign that the product passport is correct.
Keeping technical documentation
The technical documentation demonstrating that the product meets the requirements must be retained and made available on request by a supervisory authority. For a mid-sized company, this means a fixed location — digital or on paper — where these documents can be found per product line, even when the relationship with the original manufacturer changes or ends.
Taking corrective measures in case of non-conformity
When it becomes apparent that a product does not meet the requirements, the manufacturer implements corrective measures, or withdraws the product if necessary. For a brand owner, this means that there must be a procedure to quickly identify and follow up on such signals — from customers, from a supervisory authority, or from internal quality control — even though the cause often lies with production elsewhere.
Indicating contact details and name on the product
The name, the registered trade mark and the contact address of the manufacturer must appear on the product or packaging, so that the manufacturer is traceable. This may seem like an administrative detail, but it is precisely the point where a brand owner distinguishes itself from an ordinary reseller: putting the own brand on the product makes the company visible and accountable as a manufacturer, not as an intermediary.
Where things go wrong in practice
A few situations regularly occur among companies that sell under their own brand.
A company has an existing product modified with its own name and logo, without realising that this brings the role of manufacturer with it rather than importer or distributor. The confusion between these roles is exactly why the distinction between Am I an importer or manufacturer according to the ESPR? needs to be made more often than one might think.
Another recurring problem: the technical documentation remains with the factory abroad, and the brand owner company does not have a copy of it themselves. As soon as a question comes from a supervisory authority, or as soon as the relationship with the factory deteriorates, there is nothing left to demonstrate that the product ever met the requirements.
Also problematic: the data in the product passport is taken verbatim from the manufacturer, without checking its accuracy for the EU market. If an error is later found in it, the question arises of who is liable for it — the factory that supplied the data, or the brand that published it. That issue is dealt with further on who is liable if there is an error in the product passport.
A fourth situation: a company believes that selling private label products via its own webshop or marketplace does not entail additional obligations beyond what the factory already does. In practice, the obligations of manufacturer and sales channel overlap precisely here, something that is specifically elaborated on I sell private label electronics what are my obligations.
Finally, things go wrong when a company assumes that spare parts and repair information are arranged by the original factory, while this obligation formally rests with its own brand. How long parts must remain available is explained on How long must I keep spare parts for electronics available?.
What you can document
- A written agreement with the factory or production supplier about which party supplies which data for the digital product passport, and at what point in time.
- A copy of the technical documentation per product line, kept within the company itself and not solely with the factory.
- An internal procedure for assessing reports of non-conformity, with a responsible person or function who can initiate corrective measures.
- An overview of which contact details and brand name must appear on each product and packaging, and a check that this is actually done.
- Agreements on spare parts and their availability, including who supplies them if the relationship with the factory changes.
- A documented procedure for verifying data received from an external factory before publication in the digital product passport.
This is not legal advice. This page provides general information about the regulations that this platform covers. We are not familiar with your situation. If you are in doubt about your own case, consult a lawyer or the competent supervisory authority.
Written with AI based on the sources above, checked by a human on 2026-08-22. Is something incorrect? Let us know — corrections take priority.