Who is a distributor under the CRA?
Depends on your role
Depends on your role. A distributor makes a product with digital elements available on the EU market other than as manufacturer or importer, acts with due care, verifies the CE marking and declaration of conformity, and does not make non-compliant products available [[F-013]].
The deciding factors
| Factor | If true | If false | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| You resell within the EU without importing or rebranding | Distributor obligations | Another role | F-013 |
| You sell it under your own name or brand | You are the manufacturer | Importer or distributor obligations instead | F-106 |
| You first bring the product in from outside the EU | Importer, not distributor | Distributor | F-012 |
| Has a direct or indirect connection to a device or network | It is a product with digital elements | Likely out of scope | F-005 |
Check your own product
Start the short scope check. Every legally material fact — EU availability, commercial activity, exclusions, your role — is asked, never assumed.
Example scenarios
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EU electronics retailer selling an EU-made smart thermostat
In scope — operator obligations differ by role · role: _
Makes the product available without being its manufacturer or importer: a distributor with due-care obligations.
Deciding fact: Art. 3(1), Art. 2(1)
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Same retailer selling the thermostat under its own label
Likely in scope · role: _
Own-label sale makes the retailer the manufacturer.
Deciding fact: Art. 3(1), Art. 2(1)
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Retailer that imports the product directly from a non-EU maker
In scope — operator obligations differ by role · role: _
First placing the non-EU product on the EU market makes the retailer an importer instead.
Deciding fact: Art. 3(1), Art. 2(1)
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Retailer selling only outside the EU
Likely out of scope · role: _
Not made available on the EU market, so the Regulation does not apply.
Deciding fact: Art. 3(22)
Each scenario is a fixture: the shared CEMarque rules engine evaluates its inputs at build time and the page cannot be served if the outcome shown here differs from the engine's.
Edge cases
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Why
Who is a distributor
A distributor is any operator in the supply chain, other than the manufacturer or importer, who makes a product with digital elements available on the EU market. Distributors act with due care, verify that the product bears the CE marking and is accompanied by the declaration of conformity, verify that manufacturer and importer obligations appear to have been met, and do not make non-compliant products available [1]. They also report vulnerabilities to the manufacturer and cooperate with authorities, and these obligations apply from 11 December 2027 [1] [2].
Check, not assess
The distributor's obligations are checks of visible conformity evidence, not a conformity assessment of their own [1]. That is the difference from the manufacturer, who carries the assessment, and the importer, who verifies it in depth [3].
Changing role
Marketing the product under your own name or trademark makes you the manufacturer [4] [5]. First bringing the product in from outside the EU makes you the importer [3]. A person who substantially modifies a product becomes its manufacturer [6]; the full check on CEMarque covers that case.
Applicability first
The product must be a product with digital elements made available on the EU market [7]. The scope check reports the apparent role; obligations are listed in the full determination.
What to do next
CRARequired only answers applicability. CEMarque carries your answers forward and adds your role, class, conformity route, dates, obligations, and a permanent cited verdict.
Check my product Run the full cited determination on CEMarque
Related applicability questions
Sources
- F-013 Distributors act with due care; verify CE marking, declaration of conformity and manufacturer/importer obligations; do not make non-compliant products available; report vulnerabilities to the manufacturer; cooperate with authorities. Art. 20 EUR-Lex ↩
- F-003 The Regulation applies in full from 11 December 2027. Art. 71(2) EUR-Lex ↩
- F-012 Importers place only compliant products on the market; verify conformity assessment, technical documentation, CE marking and manufacturer identification; indicate their own name and address; report known vulnerabilities to the manufacturer; keep the declaration of conformity; cooperate with authorities. Art. 19 EUR-Lex ↩
- F-106 Marketing a product under your own name or trademark makes you the manufacturer even if someone else developed it. Art. 3(13), Art. 21 EUR-Lex ↩
- F-011 Manufacturer: a natural or legal person who develops or manufactures products with digital elements or has them designed, developed or manufactured, and markets them under their name or trademark, whether for payment, monetisation or free of charge. Art. 3(13) EUR-Lex ↩
- F-014 Substantial modification: a change after placing on the market affecting compliance with essential requirements or resulting in a modification of the intended purpose; a person who substantially modifies a product becomes its manufacturer. Art. 3(30), Art. 22 EUR-Lex ↩
- F-005 A product with digital elements is a software or hardware product and its remote data processing solutions, including components placed on the market separately, whose intended purpose or reasonably foreseeable use includes a direct or indirect logical or physical data connection to a device or network. Art. 3(1), Art. 2(1) EUR-Lex ↩
- F-101 Made available on the market means supply for distribution or use on the EU market in the course of a commercial activity. Art. 3(22) EUR-Lex ↩
CRARequired answers applicability only, using scope logic and cited regulatory facts maintained by CEMarque, which encodes Regulation (EU) 2024/2847 and published guidance as of Facts v2026.09.4 (10 September 2026). Results are "likely" or "conditional" readings of your answers, not a legal opinion and not a conformity assessment. Run the full cited determination on CEMarque before you act. Methodology.