Know what you must do

We consider you a supplier if your product is for the Australian market and you are:

A manufacturer in Australia

• A manufacturer makes a product for sale in Australia.
• If you make a product for an overseas market only, we do not consider you a supplier.

An importer in Australia

• An importer brings a product into Australia for sale.
• If you ship a product from an overseas distributor to a customer in Australia, we consider you an importer.
• Importers can include Amazon and Etsy sellers.

An agent in Australia

• An agent is someone in Australia who acts on behalf of a manufacturer or importer.

We have 5 steps for suppliers to follow.

Before you supply a product to the Australian market, make sure you:

1. check the rules to follow
2. show your product complies
3. sign and keep records
4. register as a responsible supplier
5. label your product.

You cannot automatically supply products:

• with overseas markings
• that you change in any way after you go through our steps for suppliers

We audit and investigate suppliers and products.

If we find that you are not following our rules, we may respond by:

• asking you to agree to follow our rules
• giving you a formal warning
• telling you to pay a penalty.

We consider all the facts of your case when choosing how to respond.

We help you to understand our rules by:

• setting out the 5 steps for suppliers
• having a test to find the rules for your product.

If your product is complex, or is a system made up of a number of pieces of equipment, contact us or an agent for advice.

Agents

You can have an Australian agent act on your behalf.

An agent is usually an independent consultant or testing body that offers agent services.

They can help by:

• giving you advice about our rules
• arranging the testing of your product
• signing a declaration of conformity
• keeping records
• registering as a responsible supplier
• labelling your product.

It is up to you to find and choose an agent. We cannot recommend someone to you.

Make sure you have an agency agreement in place.

Even when you do use an agent, be aware: you might still be ultimately responsible for making sure your product complies with our rules.

You might have already gone through our 5 steps for suppliers to show your product complies with our rules.

If your product changes in any way, it might no longer comply with our rules. When it no longer complies, it has had a 'material' change.

It is likely you will have to check whether your product still complies and update your records.

For any product change, you must sign and keep a statement. Generally the statement should:

• describe your product and the change
• say whether the change is material or not.

Check your product's labelling requirements to know what to do.

You can get help to follow our rules.

Your product might have overseas markings, such as the CE mark. This does not mean that:

• your product complies with any of our rules
• you can label your product with the Regulatory Compliance Mark
• you can supply your product without the RCM.

In some cases, you might be able to use international documents (for example, test reports) to show your product complies with our rules.

Check your product's labelling requirements for whether you can use international documents.

Generally you will still have to label your product with the RCM.

You can get help to follow our rules.