S.L. 427.60 Art. 11Authorised representatives.

(1) A manufacturer who is not located in the territory of at least one Member State shall, by a written mandate, appoint an authorised representative for the Union and shall indicate in the mandate the name of the authorised representative and the address at which it can be contacted.

(2) Fulfilment of the obligations laid down in regulation 10(1) and the drawing-up of technical documentation shall not form part of the authorised representative’s mandate.

(3) An authorised representative shall perform the tasks specified in the mandate received from the manufacturer. The mandate shall allow the authorised representative to do at least the following:

(a) keep the EU declaration of conformity and the technical documentation at the disposal of national surveillance authorities for at least ten years after the wheel mark has been affixed and in no case for a period shorter than the expected life of the marine equipment concerned;

(b) further to a reasoned request from a competent authority, provide that authority with all the information and documentation necessary to demonstrate the conformity of a product;

(c) cooperate with the competent authorities, at their request, on any action taken to eliminate the risks packaging or in a document accompanying the product or both, as appropriate.

(2) Importers and distributors shall, further to a reasoned request from a competent authority, provide it with all the information and documentation necessary to demonstrate the conformity of a product in a language which can be easily understood by, or is acceptable to, that authority. They shall cooperate with that authority, at its request, on any action taken to eliminate the risks posed by products which they have placed on the market. The competent authorities for products imported into Malta shall be the Technical Regulations Division and the Registrar-General and the necessary information documentation shall be provided to such authorities in at least the Maltese or the English language.

(3) An importer or distributor shall be considered a manufacturer for the purposes of these regulations and shall be subject to the obligations of the manufacturer under regulation 10, where it places marine equipment on the market or on board an EU ship under its name or trademark or modifies marine equipment already placed on the market in such a way that compliance with the applicable requirements may be affected.

(4) For a period of at least ten years after the wheel mark has been affixed and in no case for a period shorter than the expected life of the marine equipment concerned, economic operators shall, on request, identify the following to the market surveillance authorities, which in Malta are the Technical Regulations Division and the Registrar-General:

(a) any economic operator who has supplied them with a product;

(b) any economic operator to whom they have supplied a product.