Trade Agent Agreements

An ATEX or IECEx Trade agent is an organisation who places a product on the market under their own name but is not the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) of the product. The name and address of the trade agent (and not the OEM) is included on the product-marking label.

It is therefore the Trade Agent’s responsibility for compliance to the directive, which includes conformity assessments, CE marking and Declaration of Conformity (DofC).

Trade Agent certificates enable a product to be sold into different markets via different companies; an advantage if you have partnerships with companies who are already established in certain markets, or want to add to your product portfolio without the need for costly product design resources.

The Trade Agent Approach

From a certification viewpoint, issuing a Trade Agent Certificate is a relatively straightforward exercise, and additional testing is not normally necessary. Certain information is required in order to issue a certificate, including:

• An application form completed by the Trade Agent
• A declaration from the original manufacturer that the products to be supplied to the Trade Agent will be the same as that already certified
• A declaration from the Trade Agent that the products to be put on the market will be identical to that already certified and supplied and will not be modified in any form
• A declaration from the Trade Agent that they agree to comply with the Regulations Applicable to the Holders of Sira Certificates
• A copy of the contractual agreement or memorandum of understanding between the companies
• A label drawing for the Trade Agent that shows the same information as on the label of original certified product, except for the certificate number, the product reference (if different), and the Trade Agent’s name and address
• An extract or copy of the product instructions that comply with Directive 94/9/EC, Annex II, Clause 1.0.6 that will be supplied by the Trade Agent

Quality Assurance Notification

As well as the Trade Agent’s certificate, Quality Assurance issues may also apply. An audit of the Trade Agent’s premises must be undertaken. The audit may have limited scope, but will look at the contract held by OEM/Trade Agent and the quality control process.

Sira is able to offer complete support for Trade Agent compliance, by issuing certificates and resolving any QA issues. For a formal, fixed price quotation, please fill in the relevant sections of our request for quotation form, a copy of which can be downloaded by clicking here

The Alternative Approach

If both company names and addresses of the Trade Agent and the OEM are included on the product label, then a Trade Agent Certificate is not required. Instead, the OEM applies for a variation to their existing Product Certificate to include the Trade Agent as an alternative distributor. Overall compliance therefore rests with the OEM.


For more information, please download the Trade Agent Datasheet by clicking here