Article 21: Cases in which obligations of manufacturers apply to importers and distributors
importer | distributor · Article 21
Cases in which obligations of manufacturers apply to importers and distributors An importer or distributor shall be considered to be a manufacturer for the purposes of this Regulation and shall be subject to Articles 13 and 14, where that importer or distributor places a product with digital elements on the market under its name or trademark or carries out a substantial modification of a product with digital elements already placed on the market.
How to satisfy it: You stop being an importer or a distributor and BECOME a manufacturer, subject to Articles 13 and 14 in full, on either of two triggers: placing the product on the market under your own name or trademark, or substantially modifying one already placed. White-labelling is the common case and it is easy to miss, because nothing about the commercial arrangement changes, only the legal role. Timing is worth checking rather than assuming: Article 71(2) applies this Article from 11 December 2027, while the Article 14 reporting duties it points at apply from 11 September 2026, and the text does not resolve cleanly whether a rebrander counts as a manufacturer for reporting in between.
Article 21 on EUR-Lex · as of 2026-08-13 · Regulation (EU) 2024/2847