Wholesale distributor product-safety duties

When you distribute goods rather than make them, you do not carry the manufacturer's full conformity-assessment burden — but you are not off the hook. You must act with due care, supply only goods you can reasonably presume are safe and compliant, and be able to trace what you supplied and to whom. The detailed conformity rules for each product type live in the "place on the GB market" guides cross-linked below. This guide is the distributor's overview.

The general product safety baseline

For consumer goods not covered by a sector-specific regime, the General Product Safety Regulations are the safety net. As a distributor you must act with due care to ensure the goods you supply are safe, not supply products you know or should presume are dangerous, keep records to trace supply, and co-operate on withdrawals and recalls. OPSS and local Trading Standards enforce.

Your duties as a distributor

Across the product-safety regimes the distributor's role is consistent:

• Verify before you supply — check that products carry the required conformity marking (UKCA, or CE where still accepted on the GB market), labelling and manufacturer/importer details, and that documentation exists.
• Store and handle correctly — do not let storage or transport conditions compromise conformity.
• Keep traceability — record who you bought from and supplied to, so unsafe goods can be traced both ways.
• Act on non-conformity — do not supply products you know or suspect are non-compliant or unsafe, and co-operate with recalls and enforcement.

Rules for specific goods

Follow the regime guide for what you distribute — these set out the marking, documentation and safety standards you must verify:

• Chemicals, detergents and cleaning products — UK REACH and GB CLP classification, labelling and safety data sheets: place chemical substances and products on the GB market and which chemical regulations apply.
• Cosmetics — responsible person, safety assessment and SCPN notification. Distributors must check labelling and not supply non-compliant products. See which chemical regulations apply.
• Electrical and electronic goods, and radio equipment — electrical safety, EMC and radio rules, plus WEEE take-back: place electronic and electrical products on the GB market, electrical product safety and WEEE producer compliance.
• Machinery and equipment — conformity marking, declaration of conformity and instructions: place machinery and equipment on the market.
• Construction products — designated-standard marking and declarations of performance: construction product marking compliance.
• Textiles, clothing and footwear — fibre-composition labelling: label and place textiles, clothing and footwear on the GB market.
• Furniture and furnishings — ignition-resistance and labelling: meet the furniture fire-safety and product-safety rules.
• Precious metals (gold, silver, platinum, palladium) — do not describe or supply articles above the exemption weights as precious metal unless they carry a UK assay-office hallmark, and display the statutory dealer's notice. High-value dealers taking large cash payments may also have anti-money-laundering registration duties with HMRC.

Next steps

Make sure the cross-cutting duties for your business are in place — see Run a compliant wholesale business — then confirm everything with the wholesale compliance checklist.