REACH, RoHS, CE, WEEE: product compliance explained to distributors

REACH, RoHS, CE, WEEE — four European regulations that have a direct impact on distributors and importers. Failure to comply can result in fines, marketing bans, and costly product recalls. Here is what they actually require.

REACH: chemical compliance

REACH(Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals — Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006) is the European regulation on chemical substances. It requires that hazardous substances used in products be identified, reported and, for those of greatest concern, authorised.

What this means for you as a distributor:

• If your product contains SVHCs (Substances of Very High Concern) at a concentration of more than 0.1% by weight, you must inform your business customers upon request, and consumers within 45 days of a request
• Since January 2021, articles containing SVHCs must be notified to the ECHA’sSCIP databasebefore being placed on the market
• Substances authorised via the REACH process have an expiry date: check that your authorisations are up to date

In practice:you must obtain from your suppliers the safety data sheets (SDS) and SVHC declarations for the relevant articles, store them by product reference, and be able to provide them on request.

RoHS: restrictions on hazardous substances in electronics

RoHS(Restriction of Hazardous Substances — Directive 2011/65/EU) prohibits the use of certain substances in electrical and electronic equipment (EEE): lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, PBB, PBDE — and, since 2019, four additional phthalates.

What this means for you:

• All EEE placed on the EU market must comply with RoHS — including if you are an importer or distributor
• You must have the manufacturer’s RoHS declaration of conformityfor each relevant product
• The CE marking implicitly includes RoHS compliance for EEE

The categories concerned:virtually all electronic devices, household appliances, electronic toys, medical equipment, lighting, control instruments…

CE marking: the European declaration of conformity

The CE marking is not a quality label — it is a declaration by the manufacturer that the product complies with applicable European directives (safety, health, environment). It is mandatory for many categories.

What this means for you as a distributor:

• You must check that the products you sell do indeed bear the CE marking where required
• You must be able to provide the EU Declaration of Conformity (DoC) upon request by market surveillance authorities
• If you modify a product or market it under your own brand, you become liable in the same way as a manufacturer

Required documentation:the manufacturer’s EU Declaration of Conformity, the instructions in the local language, and technical data sheets for products subject to the Machinery, Low Voltage, EMC, or Radio Equipment (RED) Directives.

WEEE: the management of electrical and electronic waste

The WEEE Directive (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment — Directive 2012/19/EU) requires producers and distributors to take responsibility for the recycling of end-of-life electrical and electronic equipment.

What this means for you:

• If you import EEE, you are considered a “producer” and must register with an approved eco-organisation (Ecologic, Ecosystem, Récylum, etc.)
• You must display the crossed-out wheelie bin symbol on your products and document your compliance
• Financial contributions (eco-contributions) are payable based on the volumes placed on the market

How to centralise compliance management in your PIM

Managing regulatory compliance across thousands of product lines without the right tool is either impossible or a source of costly errors. The right place to centralise this information is the PIM — where all product information is already stored.

For each product, your compliance PIM must store:

• The list of applicable regulations (REACH, RoHS, CE, WEEE, etc.)
• The compliance status (compliant / non-compliant / pending validation)
• Related documents (DUC, SDS, SVHC declaration, WEEE registration number)
• Expiry dates for documents and authorisations
• Update history

ProductsManager natively integrates thesecompliance modules(REACH, RoHS, CE, WEEE) with expiry alerts, a validation workflow and a document export ready for audits.

What you risk without document management

The consequences of non-compliance can be severe: sales bans, withdrawal from the market, fines, product recalls at the distributor’s expense, and liability for civil damages in the event of consumer harm. Document compliance is not optional — and managing it within a structured PIM is the only viable approach at scale.