CyprusLaw 57(I)/2024 on the Accessibility of Products and Services, duties of distributors of products
In force since .
An accessibility requirements rule binding public and private bodies.
What it requires
- If you make a listed product available on the market without being its manufacturer or importer, act with due care in relation to the accessibility requirements of the Law (Art. 11(α)).
- Before making a product available, verify that it bears the CE marking, comes with the required documents and with instructions and safety information in a language easily understood by consumers and other end users in the Republic, and that the manufacturer and importer met their duties on identification and contact details (Art. 11(β)).
- Do not make a product available while you consider or have reason to believe that it does not comply with the applicable accessibility requirements, until it complies, and inform the manufacturer or importer and the competent authority (Art. 11(γ)).
- Make sure storage and transport conditions, while you are responsible for the product, do not endanger its conformity (Art. 11(δ)).
- If you consider or have reason to believe that a product you made available does not comply, make sure the corrective measures needed are taken or that it is withdrawn, and inform the competent authority at once with details of the non-conformity and the measures taken (Art. 11(ε)).
- On a reasoned request give the competent authority and the accessibility surveillance authorities the information and documentation needed to show conformity, and cooperate with them in remedying non-conformity (Art. 11(στ)).
- Identify to the competent authority every operator that supplied you with a product or to which you supplied one, for five years (Art. 13).
- If you place a product on the market under your own name or trademark, or modify a product already on the market in a way that may affect conformity, you carry the manufacturer's obligations under Article 8 (Art. 12).
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text.
If you get it wrong
Criminal exposureYes
Private right of actionYes
Criminal exposure note
Article 38 makes it an offence to make available on the market a product or service that does not comply with the Law, to disregard a withdrawal, recall or destruction notice served under Article 34, to issue or use a certificate or other document without approval or without following the proper procedure, or to give false, misleading or inaccurate details or documents to the authorities. A first conviction carries imprisonment of up to 2 years or a fine of up to EUR 20,000 or both, and a second or later conviction imprisonment of up to 3 years or a fine of up to EUR 30,000 or both.
Penalty structure
Article 38 sets the highest fine in the Law: on a second or later conviction, imprisonment of up to 3 years or a fine of up to EUR 30,000 or both, and on a first conviction imprisonment of up to 2 years or a fine of up to EUR 20,000 or both, whether or not an administrative fine is imposed. Article 36(1) lets the competent authority impose an administrative fine of up to EUR 10,000 on a person who commits any of the infringements listed in Article 35, and of up to EUR 20,000 for a later infringement. Article 36(2) lets it impose a fine of up to EUR 500 for each day a fined infringement continues, according to its gravity, and the text states no total for the daily fines. Article 37(1) sets the amount by the nature, gravity and duration of the infringement.
- Rule
- Fixed only
- As of
- Currency
- EUR
- Fixed cap
- 30,000
Who enforces it
Enforcement body
The Deputy Minister of Social Welfare (Υφυπουργός Κοινωνικής Πρόνοιας), the competent authority under Article 3(1), which imposes the administrative fines, with the departments and services of the public service that the Council of Ministers designates under Article 3(3) as accessibility surveillance authorities
What it reaches
Instrument type
an act of a legislature
Applicability criteria
- As of
- Combinator
- Any of
- Criteria
- a distributor, being a natural or legal person in the supply chain, other than the manufacturer and the importer, that makes a listed product available on the market, from
What this law does
Article 2 defines a distributor as a natural or legal person in the supply chain, other than the manufacturer and the importer, that makes a product available on the market. Article 11 requires a distributor to act with due care in relation to the requirements of the Law when it makes a product available on the market.
Article 11 requires a distributor, before making a product available, to verify that it bears the CE marking, comes with the required documents, instructions and safety information in a language easily understood in the Republic, and that the manufacturer and importer met their identification duties.
Article 11 forbids a distributor to make a product available while it considers or has reason to believe that the product does not comply, until it complies, and requires it to inform the manufacturer or importer and the competent authority. Article 11 requires a distributor that considers a product it made available non-compliant to ensure that corrective measures are taken or the product is withdrawn, and to inform the competent authority.
Article 11 requires a distributor to give the authorities, on a reasoned request, the information and documentation needed to show conformity and to cooperate with them. Article 12 treats a distributor as a manufacturer when it places a product on the market under its own name or trademark or modifies a product already on the market in a way that may affect conformity.
Article 13 requires a distributor to identify to the competent authority any operator that supplied it with a product or to which it supplied one, for five years. Article 15(1) applies the accessibility requirements only to the extent that compliance does not require a significant change resulting in a fundamental alteration of the basic nature of the product or service and does not impose a disproportionate burden on the economic operators.
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app distributes a software product.
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