ESPR Compliance for Importers and Distributors

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Why Importers and Distributors Face Distinct Obligations

The Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) assigns specific responsibilities to each type of economic operator in the supply chain. Whilst manufacturers bear the primary obligation to create Digital Product Passports and ensure product compliance, importers and distributors have their own distinct and legally binding duties.

These obligations reflect the fact that importers and distributors serve as gatekeepers for the EU market. An importer brings products from outside the EU into the European market; a distributor makes products available on the market after they have been placed there by a manufacturer or importer. Both roles carry responsibilities to verify, document, and in some cases supplement the compliance work done by upstream operators.

Many importers and distributors underestimate their obligations under the ESPR, assuming that compliance is solely the manufacturer's responsibility. This is a dangerous misconception. The regulation makes clear that every economic operator bears responsibility for the products they handle, and enforcement action can be taken against importers and distributors independently of any action against manufacturers.

Importer Obligations Under the ESPR

Importers occupy a critical position in the ESPR compliance framework. As the entity responsible for placing a non-EU product on the EU market, the importer must ensure that the product, and its Digital Product Passport, meets all applicable requirements before it reaches European consumers.

• Verify that the manufacturer has prepared the required technical documentation and Digital Product Passport.
• Ensure that the conformity assessment procedure has been carried out correctly.
• Check that the product bears the required markings, labels, and data carriers.
• Confirm that the Digital Product Passport is accessible and contains all mandatory information.
• Add their own name, registered trade name, or trademark and contact address to the product or its documentation.
• Maintain a copy of the EU declaration of conformity and technical documentation for the period specified in the delegated act.

Crucially, importers are not merely checking boxes. They have a substantive duty to verify that the manufacturer's compliance claims are credible. If an importer has reason to believe that a product does not comply, whether through their own checks or through information received from other sources, they must not place that product on the market until compliance has been established. For background on what a compliant DPP looks like, consult our complete guide to Digital Product Passports.

Distributor Obligations Under the ESPR

Distributors' obligations are somewhat narrower than those of importers but are nonetheless significant. A distributor must act with due care in relation to the products they make available on the market, ensuring that they bear the required markings and are accompanied by the necessary documentation.

Before making a product available on the market, distributors must verify that the product carries the appropriate conformity markings and data carriers, that it is accompanied by the required instructions and safety information in the language of the Member State where it is to be made available, and that the manufacturer and importer have complied with their respective obligations.

Like importers, distributors have an obligation not to make available products that they know or should reasonably know to be non-compliant. If a distributor becomes aware of a compliance issue after a product has been made available, they must take appropriate corrective measures, which may include withdrawing the product from the market.

Distributors must also cooperate with market surveillance authorities, providing them with information and documentation needed to establish product compliance. This cooperation obligation extends to facilitating access to premises, products, and records.

Digital Product Passport Verification Duties

Both importers and distributors have specific obligations regarding the verification of Digital Product Passports. These go beyond simply checking that a passport exists, they require meaningful scrutiny of the passport's content and accessibility.

• Is the DPP accessible via the data carrier (QR code) applied to the product?
• Does the DPP contain all data fields mandated by the relevant delegated act?
• Is the information presented in both human-readable and machine-readable formats?
• Is the DPP available in the required languages for the target market?
• Does the unique product identifier in the DPP correspond to the physical product?

For importers, this verification should be part of a systematic incoming goods inspection process. For distributors, spot checks and sampling may be more proportionate, depending on the volume and variety of products handled. In either case, the verification activities and their outcomes should be documented for audit trail purposes.

Understanding the full range of DPP data requirements is essential for conducting meaningful verification checks. Without knowing what should be in a passport, you cannot assess whether it is complete.

When Importers and Distributors Become Manufacturers

An important provision of the ESPR is that importers or distributors may be deemed to have the same obligations as manufacturers in certain circumstances. This occurs when an importer or distributor places a product on the market under their own name or trademark, or when they modify a product already placed on the market in a way that may affect its compliance.

This provision has significant implications for private-label products, own-brand goods, and any situation where an importer or distributor makes modifications to a product's design, packaging, or specifications. In these cases, the entity is treated as the manufacturer for ESPR purposes and bears full responsibility for creating the Digital Product Passport, conducting conformity assessments, and ensuring compliance with all applicable requirements.

If you import or distribute products under your own brand, even if the physical manufacturing is carried out by a third party, you should assume that you carry manufacturer-equivalent obligations under the ESPR and plan accordingly.

Liability and Enforcement Considerations

The enforcement framework under the ESPR applies to importers and distributors just as it does to manufacturers. Market surveillance authorities can and do take action against economic operators at every level of the supply chain, and the penalties for non-compliance are no less severe for importers and distributors than for manufacturers.

In practice, importers often face the greatest enforcement exposure because they are the first EU-based entity in the supply chain for imported products. If a non-EU manufacturer fails to comply, the importer is the party that enforcement authorities can most readily reach. This makes robust due diligence not just a regulatory obligation but a critical risk management strategy.

Distributors face a different but related risk. Whilst their direct obligations are narrower, they can be held liable for making available products that they knew or should have known were non-compliant. Ignorance is not a defence, distributors are expected to exercise reasonable diligence in checking the products they handle. For a thorough treatment of enforcement consequences, see our article on ESPR penalties and enforcement.

Practical Steps for Importers and Distributors

Given the obligations and risks outlined above, importers and distributors should take a proactive approach to ESPR compliance. The following practical steps provide a solid foundation.

• Establish a compliance monitoring programme that tracks which of your product categories are subject to ESPR delegated acts.
• Incorporate DPP verification requirements into your purchasing and goods-receipt processes.
• Require suppliers and manufacturers to provide evidence of ESPR compliance as a condition of doing business.
• Implement a system for recording and retaining the technical documentation and declarations of conformity you receive.
• Train relevant staff on ESPR requirements and their verification responsibilities.
• Develop a protocol for responding to suspected non-compliance, including communication with MSAs.

It is also essential to build strong relationships with your manufacturers and suppliers. ESPR compliance is a chain, each link depends on the others. Open communication, clear contractual obligations, and collaborative problem-solving will make compliance far more manageable for everyone involved.

The Battery Regulation as a Precedent

Importers and distributors dealing in batteries and battery-containing products should be aware that the EU Battery Regulation already imposes Digital Product Passport requirements that provide a useful precedent for the broader ESPR framework. The battery passport obligations, which apply to EV, light means of transport and industrial batteries above 2 kWh from 18 February 2027, demonstrate how the importer and distributor obligations work in practice.

Studying the Battery Regulation can help importers and distributors anticipate what the ESPR will require for their own product categories. The principles, verification, documentation, cooperation, and due diligence, are consistent across both regulations, even though the specific data requirements differ.

For those seeking a step-by-step approach to building compliance, our complete ESPR guide provides the broader regulatory context needed to understand how importer and distributor obligations fit within the wider framework.