Market Surveillance Full-Service
Legal background and consequences
With the Market Surveillance Regulation (EU) 2019/1020, the EU aims to ensure much stricter and more efficient market surveillance within the EU. There are clearer regulations, stricter control mechanisms and coordinated and closer cooperation between EU member states. Thus, effective means have been created to more quickly remove or directly keep off the market products that are not in compliance with the relevant laws. The aim of the measure: consumers are to be protected and distortions of competition - especially due to increasing unregulated imports via marketplaces from third countries - are to be reduced. In addition to the producer, the importer and the retailer, the fulfillment service provider as well as the marketplace operator are now to be held responsible if products do not comply with the generally applicable product safety regulations.
In addition to the Market Surveillance Regulation, the German government has also presented a bill for uniform market surveillance of European harmonized and non-harmonized non-food products in the form of the Market Surveillance Act. Since the Market Surveillance Regulation only applies to products for which a declaration of conformity must be filed, the German government has identified a gap for products that are currently regulated only by the Product Safety Act. These include, for example, consumer products such as decorative items, lighters and ladders. The Market Surveillance Act is now intended to significantly strengthen consumer protection for these products in online retail.
Both regulations will have a major impact on consumer products sold via online marketplaces. The monitoring authorities now have extensive possibilities to restrict the sale of unsafe consumer products via marketplaces and thus to oblige the marketplaces to offer only safe consumer products. If you are affected by the new legislation Market Surveillance 2021: Act now - we support you!
Who is affected as an economic operator and how?
Your product may only be made available on the market if there is a responsible economic operator in the EU. Obligations of Article 4 apply to the legal acts mentioned in Article 4 (5) (17 regulations and directives from construction products to EMC and measuring instruments).
Economic Operators are:
Manufacturer in the EU
Importer (if no EU manufacturer is available)
Authorised representative (written mandate!)
Fullfillment service provider (if none of the previous players are available)
Fullfillment Service Provider:
Whoever, within the scope of economic activity, provides at least two of the following four services,without being the owner of the product:
Our services
We make your products fit for the market surveillance regulation!
The e-systems group, which includes two sister companies and our company, is able to implement all requirements of the Market Surveillance Regulation and the Market Surveillance Act for manufacturers, importers, distributors, fulfillment service providers and marketplaces. We determine the affectedness for your products, evaluate the status of marketability on the basis of existing documents, create an action guideline, close compliance gaps, handle and supervise all necessary registrations in the official registers, ensure sustainable sales through a comprehensive after-sales program including market observations, communications with authorities, returns management, and much more. We work as your authorized agent, your third party agent, your service provider - and above all as strong and experienced partners at your side.
More information, graphics and performance declarations can be found in our webinar on the Market Surveillance Regulation and the Authorised Representative under the Product Safety Act - which you can view free of charge here.