I sell private label electronics what are my obligations

What you must concretely do

What is expected of you

Placing electronics on the market under its own brand, while another party actually develops and produces the product, is precisely the situation that the ESPR identifies as manufacturership. It is not the question of who designed or made the product that is decisive, but who puts its name or brand on it. Article 27 of the ESPR (Regulation (EU) 2024/1781) sets out the obligations of manufacturers, and those obligations therefore fall to the company carrying the private label, not to the party producing behind the scenes. Any company in doubt as to whether that applies to its own situation will find the basic reasoning at Am I an importer or manufacturer according to the ESPR?

Ensuring the product meets the requirements

Before the product comes on the market, there must be certainty that it complies with the requirements applicable to that product group under the ESPR. For a company of 10 to 100 employees, this usually means there is a supplier relationship with the party that actually makes the product, and that data, test results or statements from that party are received to serve as the basis for its own responsibility. Putting its own brand on a product without visibility into what the underlying manufacturer has tested or substantiated is a risk that does not remain with that underlying manufacturer, but with the brand owner.

Drawing up technical documentation and the product passport, or having it drawn up

The product passport and the underlying technical documentation must be in place, and the responsibility for this lies with the party identified as a manufacturer. In practice, this work can be outsourced or taken over from the underlying producer, but the responsibility that the content is correct and present does not shift with it. For companies that do not themselves have access to the technical data, this is often the point where a private label arrangement is most vulnerable: the data must come from elsewhere, and there must be a way to verify that it is complete and up to date.

Establishing conformity and signing for it

Manufacturership entails establishing that the product meets the requirements, and this is accompanied by a declaration that someone must sign. Who exactly that is and what is required for it are set out at who must sign that the product passport is correct. For a private label company, this means that someone internally bears responsibility for a declaration about a product that was designed elsewhere — a position that calls for sound agreements with the underlying manufacturer about what is supplied and when.

Keeping and maintaining data for ten years

The technical documentation and the data underlying the product passport must remain available, even after a product is no longer sold. For a company operating on private label basis, this means that the relationship with the underlying manufacturer cannot end once the last stock is sold: the data must remain accessible, which requires agreements that go beyond a one-time supply of product information.

Taking corrective measures in case of non-conformity

If a product does not meet the requirements, taking measures — such as informing customers or adapting documentation — is the responsibility of the manufacturer, in this case the brand owner. This is an obligation that does not wait for the outcome of a discussion with the underlying producer about who actually did something wrong.

Where things go wrong in practice

A common situation is that a company assumes that the underlying manufacturer, because that company designed and tested the product, also bears the ESPR obligations. As soon as the company's own brand appears on the packaging, that assumption is usually not in line with how manufacturership is structured in the ESPR.

A second situation: the technical documentation arrives at the private label company, but in a language, form or level of detail that nobody internally can use to assess whether it is correct. A declaration of conformity is signed without anyone being able to verify the underlying data.

A third: the underlying manufacturer stops producing or switches suppliers, and the data needed to maintain the product passport is lost or turns out no longer to be available. This directly affects the obligation to keep documentation available, also for a long time after the final sale — see also How long must I keep spare parts for electronics available?

A fourth situation arises when a private label company itself purchases within the EU from an intermediary, assuming that this intermediary has already met all obligations. The question of who plays which role in such a chain is addressed on I buy electronics in another EU country and resell them — and the answer is not automatically "the previous party in the chain will take care of it".

A fifth: in case of an error in the product passport, the private label company points to the underlying manufacturer as the source of the error, without having previously established who bears which liability. What can be said about this is on who is liable if there is an error in the product passport

What you can document

• A supply agreement with the underlying manufacturer which specifies which technical documentation is supplied, in what form and at what time.
• An internal procedure for who checks and signs the declaration of conformity before a private label product is placed on the market.
• An archiving agreement, both internally and with the underlying manufacturer, on where and how long the underlying data are kept.
• An agreement on what happens if the underlying manufacturer stops supplying or changes ownership, so that access to documentation is not compromised.
• A note of who within your own company is responsible for assessing reports of non-conformity and initiating corrective measures.
• For those who want more clarity about their own position in the chain: the more detailed explanation on I sell electronics under my own brand — what obligations do I get? provides an additional overview.