MaltaAccessibility Measures (European Accessibility Act) Regulations, products: obligations of importers
In force since .
An accessibility requirements rule binding public and private bodies.
- Private right of action
- Yes
What it requires
- If you are an importer, place only compliant products on the market (reg. 9(1)).
- Before placing a product on the market, make sure the manufacturer has carried out the conformity assessment procedure in Annex IV, has drawn up the technical documentation that Annex requires, has put the CE marking on the product and the required documents with it, and has met the identification and address requirements of regulations 7(5) and 7(6) (reg. 9(2)); the EU declaration of conformity you check states which requirements are subject to regulation 14 where the manufacturer used it (reg. 16(1)).
- If you consider or have reason to believe a product does not conform to the applicable accessibility requirements, do not place it on the market until it does, and tell the manufacturer and the market surveillance authority (reg. 9(3)).
- Indicate your name, registered trade name or trade mark and a contact address on the product, its packaging or an accompanying document, in a language end-users and competent national authorities easily understand, and make sure the product comes with instructions and safety information in a language consumers and end-users can easily understand as the market surveillance authority determines from time to time (regs. 9(4) and 9(5)).
- While a product is under your responsibility, keep storage or transport conditions from jeopardising its compliance with the applicable accessibility requirements (reg. 9(6)).
- Keep a copy of the EU declaration of conformity at the disposal of the market surveillance authority and other competent national authorities for five years and make sure the technical documentation can be produced on request (reg. 9(7)).
- If you have reason to believe a product you placed on the market does not conform, immediately take the corrective measures needed or withdraw it, tell the competent national authorities of the Member States where you made it available, with details, and keep a register of non-complying products and related complaints (reg. 9(8)).
- On a reasoned request from a competent national authority, give it the information and documentation needed to show the product conforms, in a language it can easily understand, and cooperate on action to eliminate the non-compliance (reg. 9(9)).
- If you, as the importer, rely on the fundamental alteration or disproportionate burden ground in regulation 14(1) for a product, carry out the assessment against the criteria in Annex VI, document it, keep the results for five years from the last making available of the product on the market, give the authority a copy on request, and send the market surveillance authority information that you rely on it; regulation 14 binds every economic operator, which regulation 2 defines to include the importer and the distributor (regs. 2, 14(2), 14(3) and 14(7)).
- If you place a product on the market under your own name or trade mark, or modify a product already on the market so that compliance may be affected, meet the manufacturer's obligations under regulation 7 (reg. 11).
- On request, identify to the market surveillance authority or a competent national authority the operators that supplied you with a product and those you supplied, and be able to do so for five years after the supply in each direction (reg. 12).
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text.
Who enforces it
Enforcement body
The Commission for the Rights of Persons with Disability, the market surveillance authority under regulation 2 of the Regulations, as designated by article 22(1)(v) of the Equal Opportunities (Persons with Disability) Act
What it reaches
Instrument type
a regulation made under an act
Applicability criteria
- As of
- Combinator
- Any of
- Criteria
- an importer, meaning a natural or legal person established within the Union who places a product from a third country on the Union market
What this law does
Regulation 9(1) requires importers to place only compliant products on the market. Before placing a product on the market, an importer must ensure that the manufacturer has carried out the conformity assessment procedure in Annex IV and drawn up the technical documentation, that the product bears the CE marking and the required documents, and that the manufacturer has met regulations 7(5) and 7(6).
Where regulation 14 has been used, regulation 16(1) requires the EU declaration of conformity to state which accessibility requirements are subject to that exception. Regulation 2 defines an economic operator as the manufacturer, the authorised representative, the importer, the distributor or the service provider.
Regulation 14(2) requires economic operators to assess whether compliance with the accessibility requirements would introduce a fundamental alteration or, based on the Annex VI criteria, impose a disproportionate burden. Regulation 14(7) requires an economic operator that relies on regulation 14(1) for a specific product to send information to that effect to the market surveillance authority, and ends with the proviso that sub-regulation (1) shall not apply to microenterprises.
Article 14(8) of Directive (EU) 2019/882 exempts microenterprises only from its first subparagraph, the duty to send information that an economic operator relies on Article 14(1). An importer that considers or has reason to believe that a product does not conform must not place it on the market until it conforms, and must inform the manufacturer and the market surveillance authority.
An importer must indicate its name, registered trade name or trade mark and a contact address on the product, its packaging or an accompanying document, and must ensure that the product is accompanied by instructions and safety information in a language consumers and end-users can easily understand. An importer must ensure that storage or transport conditions under its responsibility do not jeopardise compliance with the applicable accessibility requirements.
An importer must keep a copy of the EU declaration of conformity at the disposal of the authorities for five years and ensure that the technical documentation can be made available on request. An importer that has reason to believe a product it placed on the market does not conform must immediately take the corrective measures needed or withdraw it, inform the competent national authorities, and keep a register of non-complying products and related complaints.
An importer must give a competent national authority, on a reasoned request, the information and documentation needed to demonstrate conformity and cooperate on action to eliminate the non-compliance. Regulation 11 treats an importer as a manufacturer, subject to the obligations of regulation 7, where it places a product on the market under its own name or trade mark or modifies a product already on the market in a way that may affect compliance.
Regulation 12 requires an importer to identify, on request, the operators that supplied it with a product and those it supplied, and to be able to do so for five years in each direction.
When LexLint raises it
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