What obligations does a distributor of batteries have?
Check, don't construct yourself: the essence of the role
A distributor of batteries — the party that offers batteries on the market without being a manufacturer or importer, such as a wholesaler, webshop or retail store that resells batteries — has primarily a control function. Before a battery is offered, it should be checked whether the battery bears the required CE marking, whether the battery is accompanied by the mandatory information for the end-user (including safety information and, where applicable, the data associated with the digital product passport), and whether the name, registered trade name or brand and contact details of the manufacturer and, where applicable, the importer appear on the battery, the packaging or the accompanying documents. This control is administrative in nature: a distributor does not need to assess whether a battery technically meets all requirements, but rather whether the visible and supplied documentation is in order. As long as there is reason to assume that this is not the case, a battery shall not be offered until this is remedied.
Who this applies to and where the boundary lies
These obligations are directed at parties that come in the supply chain after the manufacturer and the importer: wholesalers, retailers, platforms and other parties that offer batteries without having produced them themselves or imported them from a third country. Once a party itself places a battery on the market under its own name or brand, or makes modifications that could affect conformity, the position shifts from distributor to manufacturer — with the heavier obligations that entails. A party that exclusively assembles batteries into its own product (for example, a manufacturer of a light vehicle that incorporates a purchased battery) generally does not fall under the distributor regime for that battery, but faces the obligations associated with placing the assembled product on the market. The distinction between "distributing" and "placing on the market" is therefore decisive for which article applies, and this varies depending on the situation and the role in the supply chain.
What is already established and what follows from the regulation itself
For the digital product passport, a fixed date applies: this is mandatory from 18 February 2027, as laid down in Article 77 of Regulation (EU) 2023/1542. For the broader set of obligations of economic operators, including those of distributors in Articles 38 to 44, the regulation as a whole has already entered into force and various parts apply at different times. Which exact date applies for which specific control obligation is not something that can be summarised briefly without consulting the official text itself — this specifies for each provision when it becomes effective. Until an obligation becomes applicable, nothing actually changes for the distributor with regard to the existing duty of care when offering products; this already follows from more general rules on product safety and market participation.
In practice: where to start
If you are a distributor of e-bike, scooter or industrial batteries and want to determine what is expected of you, start by mapping your own position in the supply chain: do you purchase batteries from an EU manufacturer, from an importer, or do you bring the batch yourself from outside the EU? This question determines whether Articles 38-44 (distributor) apply, or the more stringent articles for manufacturers and importers. Next, it is practical to set up a fixed inspection upon receipt of a batch of batteries: is the CE marking present, is the supplied documentation complete and in the correct language, and are the details of the manufacturer and importer traceable? For batteries falling under the digital battery passport, it is worthwhile to extend this inspection with the question of whether the QR data carrier and the underlying passport are present and accessible — something a distributor depends on from what the manufacturer or importer has supplied, but which also comes with a controlling role. In case of doubt about conformity, the usual pattern is: do not offer, contact the manufacturer or importer, and if there is a suspicion of risk, inform the supervisory authority.
Where this is based on: Articles 38 to 44
These obligations for distributors are described in Regulation (EU) 2023/1542, in Articles 38 to 44, which together govern the obligations of market participants — manufacturers, authorised representatives, importers and distributors. The precise wording of each inspection obligation and the associated application dates are set out in those articles themselves; the official text via EUR-Lex provides the complete and current version thereof.
If you want to determine which role — manufacturer, importer or distributor — applies to your own situation, it is wise to first clarify your own position in the supply chain and then consult Articles 38 to 44 of the regulation itself for the precise and current obligations associated with it.
What this is based on
The Regulation itself is on EUR-Lex. We refer for each statement; you need not believe us.
What you need to do concretely
What is expected of you
A distributor is, in the Battery Regulation, anyone in the supply chain who places a battery on the market, without being a manufacturer or importer: the wholesaler who purchases e-bike batteries from an importer and resells them to retailers, or the retail chain that obtains batteries for light means of transport from a wholesaler. The Regulation considers you among the market participants, and what does the term 'economic operator' mean in battery legislation explains how this classification works exactly and why it is not optional. The obligations for distributors are set out in Articles 38 to 44 of Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 (Battery Regulation), together with those of manufacturers, importers and authorised representatives.
Checking before you place a battery on the market
Before a battery reaches the shelf or the webshop, a controlling task falls to the distributor: ascertaining whether the battery bears the required CE marking, whether the declaration of conformity and technical documentation are present, and whether the name and contact details of the manufacturer and importer appear on the battery or the accompanying documents. For a company with 10 to 100 employees, this usually means no laboratory testing, but a fixed check at purchase: is there a CE marking, is the naming of the party acting as manufacturer or importer correct, and is there a point of contact to be found. What exactly belongs with that CE marking is set out on which declaration of conformity and CE marking belong with a battery.
Not supplying in case of well-founded doubt
If a distributor has reasons to assume that a battery does not comply with the requirements, the battery shall not be placed on the market until it has been brought into conformity. This is a different approach than "we sell what is delivered" — it calls for a decision-making moment in the purchasing process, with someone who is authorised to refuse or return a delivery.
Passing on information in the supply chain
Distributors ensure that, as long as they are responsible for a battery, storage and transport conditions do not jeopardise compliance with the requirements. In addition, they are expected to keep relevant information — such as the battery passport and the associated QR code — available for the next party in the supply chain and for the end user. For a wholesaler with multiple warehouses, this means that storage conditions (think of temperature and humidity for lithium-containing batteries) are incorporated into the quality process, not only in logistics.
Cooperating with the competent authority
At the request of a competent authority, a distributor provides all information and documentation necessary to demonstrate that a battery complies, in a language that is understandable to that authority. This requires that documentation is not only held by the manufacturer or importer, but is also obtainable from the distributor itself — or at least can be quickly traced back to the party that does hold it.
Recognising when you become more than a distributor
A distributor who places a battery on the market under its own name or brand, or modifies an existing battery in such a way that this has consequences for compliance with the requirements, is considered a manufacturer for the purposes of the Regulation and receives the associated, more extensive obligations. This is a turning point that in practice often goes unnoticed, especially in private label trajectories. I sell batteries under my own brand — what obligations do I get? explains what that transition concretely means.
Where things go wrong in practice
A wholesaler takes over a batch of scooter batteries from a supplier outside the EU without it being clear who acts as the importer — no one has formally taken on the role, and the distributor discovers on a check that there is no party bearing the importer obligations.
A retail chain puts a sticker with its own logo on batteries that it has been purchasing from the same manufacturer for years, without realising that this places it in the role of manufacturer with associated documentation and registration obligations.
A distributor stores a large batch of industrial batteries for weeks in a damp warehouse before passing them on, without anyone having documented what the required storage conditions are.
A customer asks a retailer for the battery passport of a purchased e-bike battery, and nobody in the store knows where to find it or who compiled the passport — the QR code is not visibly affixed and the link to the supplier is missing.
A competent authority requests the declaration of conformity of a battery that has passed through three intermediaries, and it takes days to establish at which point in the chain that document is located.
What you can record
- A fixed procurement check in which CE marking, declaration of conformity and the data of manufacturer or importer are verified before a battery is accepted.
- An overview per product line of who acts as manufacturer, importer and (where applicable) authorised representative in the chain — see also am I an importer or manufacturer under the Battery Regulation? if that allocation of roles is not self-evident.
- Agreements with suppliers on where the technical documentation and battery passport are kept, and how these can be requested within a reasonable timeframe.
- A protocol for storage and transport, with the required conditions per battery type, including who within the company oversees this.
- A procedure for when justified doubt arises about the conformity of a delivery: who decides to refuse it, and how is that recorded.
- A check in every private label or co-branding arrangement whether the role thereby shifts to manufacturer, before the company's own name appears on the battery.
- Contact details and responsibilities documented in case a competent authority requests documentation.
This is not legal advice. This page provides general information about the legislation that this platform covers. 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, checked by a human on 2026-08-22. Is something wrong? Let us know — corrections take priority.