Am I an importer or a manufacturer according to the ESPR?

Your role follows from who places the product on the market, not from what you call yourself

Being a manufacturer or importer is not a matter of preference or of the name on the invoice, but of what actually happens to the product before it reaches the end user in the European Union. The ESPR attaches a separate package of obligations to each role: Article 27 describes what applies to a manufacturer, Article 29 describes what applies to an importer. Whoever has a piece of furniture designed or made and places it on the market in the Union under their own name or brand falls in practice under the obligations of Article 27. Whoever places a piece of furniture manufactured outside the Union on the market in the Union for the first time falls under the obligations of Article 29. One and the same undertaking can be a manufacturer for one product range and an importer for another, depending on where production takes place and under which name the product is sold.

For whom this distinction matters, and for whom it does not

This distinction applies once a company places physical furniture products on the market in the Union that will fall under the digital product passport. It concerns the party responsible for the product as it enters the market: whoever has it made, whoever brings it from a third country and sells it here for the first time, or whoever has an existing product sold under their own brand — the latter counts in practice as a manufacturer, even if there is no own factory behind it. For a pure distributor or reseller who resells products within the Union without importing them themselves from a third country, it is different: they do not automatically fall under Article 27 or Article 29, but have their own, more limited package of obligations. An authorised representative who acts on behalf of a manufacturer outside the Union is also not an importer in the sense of Article 29 — that is a separate role. Whoever is in doubt about whether a particular link in the chain counts as a manufacturer, importer, authorised representative or distributor should examine that separately per product line, because the role can differ per product range.

No fixed date for furniture yet, but a fixed classification in the law

The digital product passport for furniture is expected around 2030, but that date is not yet fixed. According to the ESPR work plan for 2025-2030, a delegated act for furniture is expected in 2028; once that act is published, the precise date will be stated here. The distinction between manufacturer and importer itself is already fixed: that follows directly from the ESPR regulation, regardless of when the product-specific rules for furniture come into force. Until the moment those rules are in place, the concrete obligations from Article 27 and Article 29 do not yet apply to furniture specifically, but the classification into roles is already useful for putting your own supply chain in order now.

How to figure this out in practice

To determine which role applies, start by asking who actually places the furniture on the market in the Union for the first time: is it your own undertaking, or is that done by another party in the supply chain? Next, it is important to look at the name or brand under which the product is sold — if a product made by a third party is sold under your own brand, your undertaking counts in practice as a manufacturer, not as an importer or distributor. After that, it is useful to check whether the undertaking is established in the Union; a party outside the Union cannot itself act as an importer, that must be a party established in the Union. Because the role can differ per product line, it is worthwhile to draw up this overview per assortment instead of for the entire undertaking at once. Finally, it is wise to document this overview, so that it is ready as soon as the delegated act for furniture becomes concrete and the obligations from Article 27 or Article 29 actually apply to your own assortment.

Where this is based on: Article 27 and Article 29 of the ESPR

The basis for this distinction lies in Regulation (EU) 2024/1781 (ESPR): Article 27 lists the obligations that apply to a manufacturer, Article 29 does the same for an importer. From the way these articles assign obligations, it becomes clear who fulfils which role — the manufacturer is the party that has the product designed or manufactured and places it on the market under its own name or brand, the importer is the party established in the Union that places a product from a third country on the market of the Union for the first time. For the full and exact wording, the text of both articles is the primary source to fall back on.

If you want to prepare now, it is best to draw up an overview of your own product lines with the question for each line of who has the product made, who imports it and under what name it is sold. That overview can be used directly as soon as the delegated act for furniture appears and the obligations from Article 27 or Article 29 become concrete.

This is based on

The regulation itself is available on EUR-Lex. We refer per statement; you do not need to believe us.

What you concretely have to do

What is expected of you

The ESPR distinguishes between the manufacturer and the importer, and that distinction determines which party bears which obligation. A company that designs furniture itself or has it produced and places it on the market under its own name is generally considered a manufacturer. A company that sources furniture from outside the EU and is the first to place it on the EU market is generally considered an importer. A party that is neither — for example, one that resells ready-made furniture from an EU manufacturer — falls under a different regime, that of the distributor or trader; what obligations a distributor or trader of furniture has is described separately.

Obligations of the manufacturer (Article 27)

Article 27 of the ESPR (Regulation (EU) 2024/1781) imposes on the manufacturer the obligation to ensure that the product complies with the applicable ecodesign requirements and that the product passport is present, accurate and complete. For a furniture company with 10 to 100 employees, this practically means that the technical documentation, material composition and origin data of components must be in order before a piece of furniture leaves the factory. Anyone who produces themselves or has it produced under their own brand is, in the eyes of the law, the manufacturer — even if production is outsourced. This latter point frequently arises with companies that sell furniture under their own brand without having a factory of their own.

Obligations of the importer (Article 29)

Article 29 of the ESPR (Regulation (EU) 2024/1781) describes the obligation of the importer to check that the manufacturer outside the EU has done its job: the product passport must be present, and compliance must be demonstrable, before the furniture reaches the EU market. For an import company, this means that blind trust cannot be placed in what the foreign supplier provides — the checking and, where necessary, the supplementing of data lies with the importer itself. For a manufacturer located outside the EU this is often the pivot point: the importer becomes in practice the first point of contact for the accuracy of the passport, even though the data was originally supplied by another party.

When the role shifts

A company that begins as a trader can, through its own actions, become a manufacturer. This happens, for example, when an existing piece of furniture is modified or refined in a way that changes its properties — a different base frame, different upholstery with different material properties, or a change that is relevant to the ecodesign requirements. Whether this applies in a specific case depends on what exactly changes; when modification of an existing product results in manufacturer status is discussed further.

Where things go wrong in practice

A number of situations recur regularly with furniture companies encountering this classification for the first time.

A company has furniture produced at a factory in Vietnam or China and sells it under its own brand name in the EU. The company sees itself as 'just a trader', while under the law its role is that of importer — with the associated duty to check the passport.

A furniture maker buys components (legs, hinges, upholstery fabric) from various suppliers and assembles the end product itself. The company thinks the passport is handled by the suppliers, while the ultimate responsibility for the complete passport lies with the manufacturer of the end product — the party that assembles the furniture and places it on the market.

An import company receives a passport from the foreign manufacturer that appears superficially complete, but in which material data is inaccurate or outdated. Because the importer does not check this before the furniture is sold, a problem arises that only comes to light later — often when a complaint or inspection occurs. If you recognise yourself in this: who is liable for incorrect data from a supplier in the passport sets out how that responsibility lies.

A private label arrangement in which a retail chain asks a manufacturer to produce furniture under the chain's name. Both parties assume the other is responsible for the passport data, while the allocation of roles is fixed in who legally qualifies as the manufacturer. This occurs so frequently that there is a separate page about it: who must provide the passport data for private label furniture.

A company sells through its own webshop and through an online marketplace, and assumes that the marketplace will take on the passport obligation. This is not automatically the case; what the product passport means when selling through an online marketplace shows where the responsibility then lies.

What you can put in order now

An internal note documenting which role the company takes on per product line — manufacturer, importer or distributor — with the justification for this (who designs, who produces, who places first on the EU market).
Agreements with suppliers about which material and origin data each supplies, and in which format, so that these do not go missing when the passport is compiled.
An overview of all foreign manufacturers with whom the company works, including the question of who acts as importer on their behalf and assumes that role.
Contractual agreements with a private label manufacturer about who provides the passport data and who checks it before sale.
A fixed procedure for checking incoming passport data upon import, including what happens if data is missing or appears incorrect.
Documentation of every modification to an existing product, with the question of whether this modification makes the company a manufacturer.

Anyone who does not document this role allocation not only runs the risk of an incomplete passport, but also of unclear accountability in any inspection about who is responsible for what. Who exactly is responsible for the product passport of furniture provides the broader framework for this, and what practically happens if these matters are not in order is described at what happens if there is no product passport for the furniture.

This is not legal advice. This page provides general information about the legislation that this platform concerns. We do not know your situation. If in doubt about your own case, consult a lawyer or the competent supervisory authority.

Written with AI based on the sources above, reviewed by a human on 2026-08-22. Is something wrong? Let us know — corrections take priority.