in force 2025-12-26 MODIFIED+1,613 −441§
Amended by Regulation (EU) 2025/2650 32025R2650
applies from: unchanged
The heading and scope of the article change from covering only traders to covering downstream operators and traders together, and the obligations formerly split between non-SME traders (treated as operators) and SME traders now apply jointly to downstream operators and traders, including new registration duties for non-SME downstream operators and non-SME traders.
The information-collection, record-keeping, notification and assistance duties in paragraphs 3 through 7 are rewritten to refer to placing, making available or exporting relevant products, to name downstream operators alongside traders as duty-bearers and information recipients, and to add a duty for downstream operators to inform the competent authority of the country of production in cases of export.
A new paragraph 6 introduces a verification step for non-SME downstream operators and non-SME traders who become aware of relevant information on non-compliance, requiring them to check that due diligence was exercised and that no or only a negligible risk was found before placing, making available, or exporting the product, and the reference to checks under Articles 18 and 19 in the former paragraph 6 is replaced by a reference to Article 19 alone in the new paragraph 7.
Cited: Art. 5, v1 · Art. 5, v2
text before / after
02023R1115-20241226 → 02023R1115-20251226
Article 5
Obligations of downstream operators and traders
1. Traders that are not SMEs (non-SME traders) shall be considered as non-SME Downstream operators and traders shall be subject to obligations and provisions in Articles 3, 4 and 6, Articles 8 to 13, Article 16(8) to (11) and Article 18 with regard to the relevant commodities and relevant products that they place or make available on the market.
2. Traders that are SMEs (SME traders) shall make available market or export relevant products on the market only if they are in possession of the information required under paragraph 3.
2. Downstream operators that are not SMEs (non-SME downstream operators) and traders that are not SMEs (non-SME traders) shall register in the information system referred to in Article 33 prior to placing or making available on the market or exporting relevant products.
3. SME Downstream operators and traders shall collect and keep the following information relating to the relevant products they intend to place or make available on the market: market or export:
(a) the name, registered trade name or registered trade mark, the postal address, the email address and, if available, a web address of the operators operators, downstream operators, or the traders who have supplied the relevant products to them, as well as as, only in the event that their supplier is an operator, the reference numbers of the due diligence statements or the declaration identifiers associated to those products;
(b) the name, registered trade name or registered trade mark, the postal address, the email address and, if available, a web address of the operators downstream operators, or the traders to whom they have supplied the relevant products.
4. SME Downstream operators and traders shall keep the information referred to in paragraph 3 for at least five years from the date of the placing or making available on the market or export, and shall provide that information to the competent authorities upon request.
5. SME Downstream operators and traders that obtain or are made aware of relevant new information, including substantiated concerns, indicating that a relevant product that they have placed or made available on the market is at risk of not complying with this Regulation shall immediately inform the competent authorities of the Member States in which they placed or made the relevant product available on the market the relevant product as well as downstream operators and traders to whom they supplied the relevant product.
In the case of exports, downstream operators shall inform the competent authority of the Member State which is the country of production.
6. Traders, whether If non-SME downstream operators and non-SME traders obtain or are made aware of relevant information indicating that a relevant product is not in compliance with the requirements set out in this Regulation, prior to placing or making available on the market or exporting relevant products, they are SMEs, shall immediately inform the competent authorities of the Member States in which they intend to place or make available on the market or from which they intend to export those relevant products. In the case of substantiated concerns, they shall verify that due diligence was exercised and that no or only a negligible risk was found. They shall not place or make available on the market or export relevant products unless the verification demonstrates no or only a negligible risk of non-compliance.
7. Downstream operators and traders shall offer all necessary assistance to the competent authorities to facilitate the carrying out of the checks under Articles 18 and Article 19, including access to premises and the making available of documentation and records.