@baby_buzz_direct wrote:
• Any additional technical information and documentation that is available on your products. We need this for every product you sell. E.g.: EU declaration of conformity, if an EU directive applies (if known), declaration of performance, test lab reports etc.
This only applies to products required to meet harmonised EU standards such as anything that requires a CE mark. Retailers, importers, manufacturers, distributors etc. are already responsible for ensuring such products are compliant by having a valid Declaration of Conformity (for example) and are expected to be able to produce this documentation upon request. If a toy (for example) has been repaired it will be required to meet the current EN71 standard and therefore might need retesting and a new DoC. The same applies to a used toy or a toy that has never been used but that has a DoC for an older EN71 standard. There would be no expectation for a seller to produce a DoC, CoA, CoC nor any test lab reports for something like a book or a DVD.
If the EU had focused solely on compliance with harmonised product safety standards I would absolutely believe it was purely an exercise in ensuring only "safe" products entered the EU market. I also believe something needed to be done as online marketplaces in general have been woefully poor at policing the safety of the goods available on their marketplaces. However, the GPSRs are in addition to (not complementary to) the EU's harmonised product safety standards and therefore are essentially a tariff on goods sourced from third-country online marketplace sellers due to the "EU-established responsible person" requirement.
@baby_buzz_direct wrote:
But much of this information would not be accessible to most retailers. Manufacturers/importers will keep this under wraps for reasons of confidentiality. It is therefore them who have to employ the EU responsible person, not the retailer. You just have to ask your supplier for their EU responsible person details and they should give it to you. Of course, for retailers selling used items fthat would not be possible, so they may have to try to find a responsible person that is not asking for all this information. I think this Estonian company that has been emailing many sellers on Ebay here already (EU Compliance Partner) handle this less strictly (and their fees are quite low as well).
The GPSRs state the responsible person/authorised representative must be employed via a written mandate from the manufacturer ("manufacturer" is as defined in the GPSR). As you pointed out yourself the retailer is not the manufacturer unless they meet the GPSR's definition of a manufacturer. Any company offering RP/AR services to a retailer should therefore be thoroughly researched before any contract is signed and/or any money being handed over. Further, even if they're legitimate I wouldn't touch that Estonian company with a (GPSR compliant) bargepole as they have engaged in highly unscrupulous marketing tactics such as spamming these boards and eBay business seller's email addresses. As their marketing tactics are wholly unethical I wouldn't trust their other business practices to be anything else either.
Give me ambiguity or give me something else.
