PPE Regulation (EU) 2016/425 - A guide 

The economic operators 

Every economic operator in the PPE supply chain is obliged to know both the upstream and downstream economic operators and to keep the corresponding documents for 10 years. The economic operators are defined as providers (e.g. distributors or textile service companies) or distributors (e.g. manufacturers, authorised representatives and importers). 

Providers, such as distributors and textile service companies: The making available of PPE includes any supply of PPE for distribution or use on the EU market in the course of a commercial activity, whether in return for payment or free of charge. A supplier is subject to the obligations of a manufacturer if he places PPE on the market under his own name or trade mark or modifies PPE already placed on the market in such a way that compliance with the Regulation may be affected (e.g. by affixing logos). 

Placers on the market, such as manufacturers, authorised representatives and importers: Placing PPE on the market involves making PPE available on the EU market for the first time. 

• Manufacturer: someone who manufactures PPE or has it developed or manufactured and markets it under their name or brand. 
• Authorised representative: someone who has received a written mandate from a manufacturer to carry out certain tasks on their behalf. 
• Importer: someone who places PPE from a third country on the EU market for the first time.

Timeline PPE Regulation (EU) 2016/425 

The obligations for you as a provider 

These obligations apply to you if you are a retailer or textile service provider, for example:

• Inform: Consider the regulation with due diligence 
• Check: Check whether the manufacturer has drawn up the required documents and attached them to the product, such as manufacturer information (in the relevant official language), declaration of conformity, manufacturer's labelling, CE marking. 
• Ensure: Ensure that the respective protective effect is not impaired during storage. BP offers individual packaging for each PPE product as well as UV protective packaging for high-visibility products. 
• Support: Obligation to co-operate with market surveillance.

The obligations for us as a distributor 

These obligations apply to manufacturers. As a distributor, we are obliged to describe all the risks that the PPE product protects against and to refer to the harmonised EU standards applied with the date of issue. In addition, the required declaration of conformity must at least be available as a download link on every PPE product. 

Our manufacturer information is available for all this information and is always an integral part of every BP® PPE product. As a distributor, we are also obliged to guarantee traceability through labelling. Therefore, all manufacturer information such as type, batch or serial number is permanently attached to every BP® PPE product. 

Furthermore: BP retains all technical documentation, declarations of conformity and information on who PPE was sold to for 10 years. We also have a duty to support market surveillance through our co-operation. 

And: If BP products are found to be non-compliant, BP is obliged to implement the prescribed corrective measures and inform all economic operators involved.