Obligations of importers of machinery and related products
Importers shall place only compliant machinery or related products on the market.
Before placing machinery or a related product on the market, importers shall ensure that the appropriate conformity assessment procedures referred to in Article 25 have been carried out by the manufacturer. They shall ensure that the manufacturer has drawn up the technical documentation set out in Annex IV, Part A, that the machinery or related product bears the CE marking referred to in Article 23 and is accompanied by the required documents, and that the manufacturer has complied with the requirements set out in Article 10(5), (6) and (8). Where an importer considers or has reason to believe that machinery or a related product is not in conformity with this Regulation, the importer shall not place it on the market until it has been brought into conformity. Furthermore, where the machinery or related product presents a risk to the health and safety of persons and, where appropriate, domestic animals and property, and, where applicable, to the environment, the importer shall inform the manufacturer and the market surveillance authorities to that effect.
Importers shall indicate their name, registered trade name or registered trade mark, and the postal address and website, email address or other digital contact at which they can be contacted, on the machinery or related product or, where that is not possible, on its packaging or in a document accompanying the machinery or related product. The contact details shall be in a language easily understood by users and market surveillance authorities.
Importers shall ensure that the machinery or related product is accompanied by the instructions for use and the information referred to in Article 10(7).
Importers shall ensure that, while the machinery or related product is under their responsibility, the storage or transport conditions do not jeopardise conformity with the essential health and safety requirements set out in Annex III.
When deemed appropriate with regard to the risks presented by machinery or a related product, importers shall, in order to protect the health and safety of persons, and where appropriate, domestic animals and property, and, where applicable, the environment carry out sample testing of machinery or related products made available on the market, investigate, and, if necessary, keep a register of complaints, of non-conforming machinery or related products and machinery or related product recalls, and shall keep distributors informed of any such monitoring.
Importers who consider or have reason to believe that machinery or a related product, which they have placed on the market, is not in conformity with this Regulation shall immediately take the corrective actions necessary to bring that machinery or related product into conformity, to withdraw it or recall it, as appropriate. Furthermore, where the machinery or related product presents a risk to the health and safety of persons and, where appropriate, domestic animals and property, and, where applicable, to the environment, importers shall immediately inform the competent national authorities of the Member States in which they made the machinery or related product available on the market to that effect, giving details, in particular, of the non-conformity and of any corrective actions taken.
Importers shall, for at least 10 years after the machinery or related product has been placed on the market, keep a copy of the EU declaration of conformity at the disposal of the market surveillance authorities and ensure that the technical documentation set out in Annex IV, Part A, can be made available to those authorities upon request. Where relevant, the source code or the programming logic included in the technical documentation shall, upon a reasoned request, be made available to the competent national authorities, if that source code or programming logic is necessary in order for them to be able to check compliance with the essential health and safety requirements set out in Annex III.
Importers shall, further to a reasoned request from a competent national authority, provide that authority with all the information and documentation, in paper or digital format, necessary to demonstrate conformity of the machinery or related products with this Regulation in a language that can be easily understood by that authority. Importers shall cooperate with that authority, at its request, on any action taken to eliminate the risks to the health and safety of persons and, where appropriate, domestic animals and property, and, where applicable, to the environment presented by machinery or related products which they have placed on the market.