Distributor duties: care, storage, and checking before making a battery available

A distributor is a person in the supply chain, other than the manufacturer or the importer, who makes a battery available on the market. Article 42 sets out the obligations of distributors. The distributor role is a custodian role: the distributor receives batteries that have already been placed on the market, stores and transports them, and makes them available to the next actor or to the end user. Distributor duties centre on care and verification: act with due care, verify labelling and accompanying information before making available, ensure storage and transport do not jeopardise conformity, and cooperate where a battery is found not to conform.

A distributor does not originate passport data, but a distributor can damage the conditions that make a record reliable, by damaging the battery, the marking or the data carrier.

What does acting with due care mean for a distributor?

Due care means verifying, before making a battery available, that the battery bears the required marking and labelling, is accompanied by the required instructions and safety information in the required language, and that the manufacturer and importer identification is present where required. Due care also means checking that the battery and its packaging show no obvious signs of damage, tampering or non conformity, and that the data carrier is present and readable where it can be checked without opening the battery. Due care does not require a distributor to repeat the conformity assessment or to inspect technical documentation. It requires the checks that a careful distributor can perform from the battery, the packaging and the accompanying information. A distributor who makes a battery available without those checks, and who later discovers a labelling defect, has not exercised the care that Article 42 requires.

How do storage and transport affect the record?

Storage and transport conditions affect the battery, the marking and the data carrier, and therefore affect the record. A battery stored in conditions that damage the label, fade the QR code, or expose the battery to heat beyond the stated storage conditions may arrive at the next actor with an unreadable carrier or a compromised battery, even though the record itself is unchanged. The distributor must ensure that storage and transport conditions do not jeopardise conformity, including compliance with the storage temperature range and handling precautions in the safety information. Where a distributor discovers damage to the carrier, the distributor should report the damage through the chain and should not replace the carrier with a new identifier. Replacement, where needed, is an operation that must be recorded and must preserve the original identifier, as the failure and fallback guide explains. A distributor who stores batteries in a way that destroys carriers creates record failures that look like system failures.

What must a distributor do on discovering non conformity?

Where a distributor considers or has reason to believe that a battery is not in conformity, the distributor must not make it available, must inform the manufacturer or importer and the market surveillance authorities where required, and must cooperate in corrective action. Where a battery presents a risk, the distributor must inform the authorities and cooperate in withdrawal or recall. For the passport, non conformity discovered by a distributor may include a marking defect, a carrier that does not resolve, a model mismatch between marking and record, or accompanying information in the wrong language. The distributor should record the defect, the battery identifier, and the action taken, and should pass the information up the chain promptly. Delay in reporting a carrier or identity defect allows further batteries from the same batch to be made available while the defect is known, and compounds the record problem.

How does distribution interact with distance selling?

A distributor who sells at a distance, including online, must ensure that the offer shows the required information and that the battery, when delivered, bears the required marking and is accompanied by the required information. Distance selling is treated in a separate guide, but the distributor duties in Article 42 apply to distance sales as well as to physical sales. The online listing is not the battery, and a correct listing does not cure a defective battery. Conversely, a correct battery does not cure a listing that omits required information or that presents a passport claim the record does not support. Both the listing and the battery must be correct, and the distributor is responsible for the part of the chain within its control.

What does the distributor check summarise?

What limits apply to distributor claims?

A distributor check proves that the distributor performed the verification and care checks before making available. It does not prove conformity, and it does not make the distributor the manufacturer or the importer. A distributor who modifies a battery in a way that affects conformity may be treated as a manufacturer, as the modification guide explains. This guide gives general educational information only and does not give legal advice for a particular distributor, battery or transaction.