Economic Operator / Responsible Person in the EU

If you manufacture your own products, you must comply with the safety and compliance obligations that apply to you. If you are based in the European Union, you may designate a subsidiary or your importer in the EU as the responsible person for your products. You can also consult companies in charge of product compliance (risk analysis, etc.) to assist you in this process.

If you import products, you must verify compliance with the safety and regulatory obligations that apply to those products. If you do not appoint an authorized representative, you are the Responsible Person for the product’s compliance in the EU and must provide your contact details.

In this scenario, the manufacturer (or their authorized representative) is the responsible person in the European Union. This information is indicated on the product, its packaging, or in the accompanying documents. You may also contact the product manufacturer if you do not have this information, or alternatively check their website.

As of December 13, we invite you to retrieve the address of your Europe-based supplier (for example, for a book, the publisher’s contact details are those of the manufacturer within the meaning of the GPSR) for all your new stock. Then, for each listing, you will simply need to systematically indicate the address you retrieved for the manufacturer in question.

You do not need to take any action on Rakuten for books, CDs, vinyl records, etc., published before December 13, 2024. Your current listings or those created prior to this date (excluding pre-orders) are therefore compliant. Please note, however: this does not apply if these products are imported from outside the European Union.

As of December 13, we invite you to retrieve the address of the publishers or manufacturers based in Europe for all your new stock. Then, for each listing, you will simply need to systematically indicate the address you retrieved for the publisher or manufacturer in question. Rakuten will do its utmost to assist you in finding this information.

Depending on the manufacturer, this information may appear on the product, on its packaging, or in the accompanying documents. You may also contact the product manufacturer if you do not have this information, or alternatively check their website.

If you sell different categories of products in various conditions (new, refurbished, second-hand), your obligations will apply on a case-by-case basis. For example, if you sell a second-hand book, a new washing machine manufactured outside the EU, and a refurbished smartphone:

• For the book, the manufacturer (publisher) will be the responsible person;
• For the washing machine, the responsible person to indicate will be the importer (this may be yourself);
• For the smartphone: you may be considered the manufacturer if you perform a substantial modification to the product.

Works of art and collectibles are excluded from the scope of the Regulation, as are:

• Medicinal products for human or veterinary use;
• Foodstuffs;
• Animal feed;
• Live plants and animals, genetically modified organisms, and genetically modified microorganisms in contained use, as well as products of plants and animals relating directly to their future reproduction;
• Animal by-products and derived products;
• Plant protection products;
• Equipment on which or in which consumers ride or travel when the operation of this equipment is directly provided by a service provider within the framework of a transport service provided to them and not by the consumers themselves;
• Aircraft;
• Antiques.

You must indicate the responsible person for the relevant supplier for each of your SKUs.

The General Product Safety Regulation covers all products, whether physical or digital. This regulation also applies to software.

Access your Merchant Center

Access the documentation on import templates

Access the XML documentation