Who Has Which Obligations under the Machinery Regulation: Manufacturers, Importers, Distributors and Representatives

Article 19 adds one duty for all four roles.

These duties apply from 20 January 2027, when the Regulation becomes directly applicable; until 19 January 2027, Directive 2006/42/EC governs the supply chain through national transpositions. How these duties fit into the wider EU Machinery Regulation is explained on the home page.

The sections below cover the definitions, each role's duties, Article 19, when a seller or modifier becomes the manufacturer, the Directive comparison and the dates.

Who Counts as an Economic Operator under the Machinery Regulation?

Under Article 3(22) of Regulation (EU) 2023/1230, "economic operator" means "the manufacturer, the authorised representative, the importer or the distributor", and no other person in the supply chain holds that status. The consolidated text of Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 defines each of the four roles in Article 3(18) to (21).

The manufacturer markets a product under its own name or trademark (Article 3(18)), the authorised representative acts under a written mandate (Article 3(19)), the importer brings a product in from a third country (Article 3(20)) and the distributor makes it available further down the chain (Article 3(21)).

Only the importer and the authorised representative must be established within the Union; every other term of Article 3 is listed with the Machinery Regulation definitions.

Table 1 sets the four definitions of Article 3 of Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 side by side.

The importer places on the market, which is "the first making available" of a product on the Union market (Article 3(12)); the distributor makes available, which covers "any supply" in the course of a commercial activity, "whether in return for payment or free of charge" (Article 3(11)).

A person who manufactures a product and puts it into service for its own use is also a manufacturer (Article 3(18)(b), recital 35).

Obligations of Each Economic Operator at a Glance

The manufacturer carries the design, documentation and conformity duties, the authorised representative acts only within its written mandate, the importer checks before placing a product from a third country on the market, and the distributor verifies before making it available.

The manufacturer designs to Annex III of Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 (Article 10(1)), then draws up the Annex IV, Part A documentation, applies the Article 25 procedure, issues the EU declaration of conformity and affixes the CE marking (Article 10(2)).

It also takes corrective action, withdrawal or recall where a product presents a risk (Article 10(9)) and answers reasoned requests (Article 10(10)).

The other three roles check and keep rather than design. Article 12(1), second subparagraph, keeps the Article 10(1) and 11(1) obligations and drawing up the Annex IV technical documentation out of any mandate, and Article 25(1) gives the conformity assessment procedure to the manufacturer or the Article 18 person, never to the authorised representative.

The importer checks the Article 25 procedure, the documentation, the CE marking and the Article 10(5), (6) and (8) requirements (Article 13(2)) and adds its own contact details (Article 13(3)); the distributor verifies the four items of Article 15(2).

Table 2 links each role to its articles, its core duties and its retention rule.

A product covered by Directive 2006/42/EC may be placed on the market only if an economic operator established in the Union is responsible for the Article 4(3) tasks of Regulation (EU) 2019/1020, which has applied since 16 July 2021 and lists the Directive in Article 4(5). Article 4(2) of that Regulation names four options for this operator.

• (a) a manufacturer established in the Union;
• (b) the importer, where the manufacturer is not established in the Union;
• (c) an authorised representative with a written mandate;
• (d) a fulfilment service provider, where none of (a) to (c) exists.

From 20 January 2027, references to Directive 2006/42/EC are read as references to Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 in accordance with Annex XII (Article 51(2)).

Identification of Suppliers and Customers (Article 19)

Article 19 of Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 requires every economic operator to identify, on request, any economic operator that supplied it with a product and any economic operator to which it supplied a product, and to be able to give that information for at least 10 years (Article 19(2)).

The request comes from the market surveillance authorities, and the period runs from the date on which the operator supplied the product or was supplied with it (Article 19(1) and (2)).

Article 19 is new compared with Directive 2006/42/EC and binds all four roles, distributors included, as Table 3 shows; the manufacturer's own duty to keep the machinery technical file is explained separately.

Table 3 lists the minimum retention periods of Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 by operator and provision.

The manufacturer's period now runs from placing on the market or putting into service (Article 10(3)); Annex VII, Part A, point 2 of Directive 2006/42/EC counts it from the date of manufacture or, in series manufacture, from the last unit produced.

When an Importer or Distributor Takes On Manufacturer Obligations (Articles 17 and 18)

An importer or distributor is considered a manufacturer and takes on the obligations of Article 10 or 11 of Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 when it places a product on the market under its own name or trademark, or modifies a product already placed on the market in such a way that compliance may be affected (Article 17).

Article 17 and recital 42 cover two triggers, and either is enough on its own.

• Own name or trademark: the product reaches the market under the seller's brand.
• Modification: the seller changes a product already on the market so that compliance may be affected.

Article 18 extends the consequence to any person who carries out a substantial modification: that person is a manufacturer with the Article 10 obligations and applies Article 25(2), (3) or (4), within an assembly only for the affected machinery "as demonstrated in the risk assessment".

Under Article 3(16), the modification, not foreseen or planned by the manufacturer, creates a new hazard or increases an existing risk and requires guards or protective devices that change the safety control system, or additional measures for stability or mechanical strength.

The new manufacturer then works through every step of Machinery Regulation compliance for that product.

A non-professional user modifying its own machinery for its own use is not a manufacturer (Article 18, third paragraph), and repair and maintenance that do not affect compliance with the essential health and safety requirements are not substantial modifications (recital 26).

Economic Operators under the Machinery Directive Compared

Directive 2006/42/EC, which applies until 19 January 2027, defines only two operators, the manufacturer (Article 2(i)) and the authorised representative (Article 2(j)), and sets no explicit obligations for importers or distributors.

The Commission's Guide to application of the Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC, Edition 2.3 (April 2024), states that distributors have no explicit obligations under the Directive unless they act as authorised representative or as the person placing the machinery on the market.

The Directive's mandate covers "all or part of the obligations and formalities" (Article 2(j) of Directive 2006/42/EC). Annex XII of Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 maps Article 5 of the Directive, the manufacturer's duties, to Articles 10 and 11; the rules that apply until the Directive's last day are set out on the Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC page.

Table 4 compares the two acts on seven points of the operator rules.

The Directive's declaration item naming the "person authorised to compile the technical file, established in the Community" (Annex II, 1.A, point 2 of Directive 2006/42/EC) has no counterpart in Annex V, Part A of the Regulation.

When the Operator Obligations Apply

The operator obligations of Articles 10 to 19 of Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 apply from 20 January 2027, and products placed on the market in conformity with Directive 2006/42/EC before that date may still be made available (Article 52(1)).

One part applies earlier. Chapter VI (Articles 43 to 46) has applied since 19 July 2023, mutatis mutandis, to products placed on the market under the Directive (Article 52(1), second sentence, as corrected).

Article 46(1)(f) treats absent, false or incomplete Article 10(6) or 13(3) contact details as formal non-compliance; how authorities act is explained under market surveillance of machinery.

National penalties have applied since 20 October 2026; they must be "effective, proportionate and dissuasive" and may include criminal penalties for serious infringements (Article 50(1)), with no EU fine amount.

What the Operator Roles Do Not Cover

The four operator roles cover the supply of machinery up to the point of use; they do not cover how an employer uses machinery at work, and Article 3(22) does not list notified bodies or market surveillance authorities among the economic operators. Notified bodies and authorities act under their own chapters of Regulation (EU) 2023/1230.

Are Users of Machinery Economic Operators?

No: a user is not an economic operator under Article 3(22) of Regulation (EU) 2023/1230, unless it builds machinery for its own use, which makes it the manufacturer (Article 3(18)(b)). A non-professional user who modifies its own machinery for its own use stays outside Article 18. The duties of employers using machinery come from the rules compared under the Work Equipment Directive and the Machinery Regulation.

Which Operator Articles Cover Partly Completed Machinery?

Partly completed machinery has its own three operator articles in Regulation (EU) 2023/1230: Article 11 for manufacturers, Article 14 for importers and Article 16 for distributors. The manufacturer keeps the technical documentation and the declaration of incorporation for at least 10 years after placing on the market (Article 11(3)), and the importer keeps the documents named in Article 14(7) for at least 10 years. The documents and duties for partly completed machinery are explained on their own page.