Our European importer already handles compliance. Do we need anything else?

Possibly not for product rules — if you have an EU importer, that operator may already carry the responsible person tasks. That is the first thing to check, and it is often the cheapest answer. Data protection and platform obligations are assessed separately.

The marketplace has asked for an EU responsible person. How quickly can this be done?

It depends on whether your conformity documentation is in order. We review it before accepting a mandate, because a mandate over a product range we have not seen would not be worth much to either of us.

China

EU legal support for Chinese companies selling or deploying in Europe

EU product rules require an economic operator established in the Union, and marketplaces enforce it at listing level. What Chinese manufacturers and sellers must put in place.

All EU market entry mandates

The pitfall

The marketplace blocks you before the regulator does

For most sellers, the first consequence of a European obligation is not a fine. It is a listing that stops working. European marketplaces check whether a product identifies an economic operator established in the Union, and suspend listings that do not. The commercial loss arrives long before any authority is involved — which is why this is worth settling before a launch rather than after a suspension.

Triggers

What European law actually requires

A product may be placed on the Union market only where an economic operator established in the Union is responsible for the compliance tasks
That operator's name and contact details must appear on the product, its packaging, the parcel or an accompanying document
Offering goods or services to people in the Union, or monitoring their behaviour, may separately trigger the Article 27 representative obligation
There is no adequacy decision for China, so transfers of personal data from the Union need their own safeguards
Compliance with the PIPL is not compliance with the GDPR. They are different instruments with different requirements

What we settle in writing before a mandate begins

Who signs the mandate. Which product range it covers. What information you supply and when. Who keeps which documents. How long it runs. How a request from an authority is handled. And which obligations remain with you as manufacturer or seller.

Language

We work in English. Where a Chinese-language adviser is already involved, we coordinate with them directly.

Scope

Services most likely to apply

EU responsible person under product safety rules
GDPR Article 27 representation
EU trade mark filing and enforcement against counterfeits
Distribution and reseller contracts
DSA legal representative for platforms

Relevant mandates

Working together

The role of your existing Chinese counsel

Your current advisers keep the relationship and the strategy. We take the European-side mandate and report back in English. Where you would rather we deal with the company directly, we do that instead — it is settled before we start, not afterwards.

For foreign law firms

Preparation

What to prepare before we speak

Your privacy notice. Your record of processing, if one exists. A description of the activity that reaches the Union. The Member States you target. Whether any EU entity, importer or reseller already exists. And whatever prompted the question — a customer questionnaire, a marketplace notice, a letter from an authority.

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Start with a scope review

EU market entry assessment

This page describes how these obligations generally work. Whether one applies to you depends on facts a web page cannot capture — your supply chain, your contracts and the role you actually play in them.