Most people responsible for planning an entry to the EU are not familiar with the complex tapestry of national and EU laws governing commercial relationships, employment relationships, product labeling, and the legal responsibilities EU companies have in regard to the representation of foreign companies. Companies claiming to be professionals in European sales and distribution often don’t know either. Do you? Foreign companies often think entry is as easy as finding a representative or distributor who immediately begins to sell their products. EU Council Directive 86/653/EEC is the main law governing manufacturers’ representatives (commercial agents). The UK Department of Trade & Industry also provides a useful fact sheet on the topic UK national laws affecting commercial agent relationships, specifically The Commercial Agents Regulations of 1993 (S.I. 3053), the 1993 Amendment (S.I. 3173) and 1998 Amendment (S.I. 2868). Every country has similar national laws and provide online resources. The EU’s Celex and Eur-Lex online services provide searchable platforms. The European Commission’s SCADPlus service provides understandable summaries of the important European legislation in the areas of competition, consumers, customs, enterprise, environment, fraud, information, taxation and transport.

Export911 is a business and educational web site focusing on international business. The site provides lots of useful information export-import marketing, management, letters of credit, export cargo insurance, shipping. logistics, manufacturing, bar codes, and more. Online access is free with no registration or user’s fees.

Are you getting a lot of confusing information concerning how to comply with European packaging recovery laws? ProEurope is the umbrella organization which groups all of the national packaging recovery organizations.

Companies often make the mistake of labeling their products with UPC bar code. In Europe, EAN bar code is used, not UPC. Large potential retail customers usually refuse products that are not labeled with EAN bar code. The 13-digit EAN is backwards compatible with the 12-digit UPC, but UPC is not forward compatible with EAN. EAN International today has 101 Member Organizations representing 103 countries including the USA and Canada. These organizations provide full support and information to more than one million local member companies using the EAN.UCC system.

Are you looking for a representative and don’t feel that AMR is the right choice for you? Let us point you in the right direction so you don’t make a false start. Most reputable rep companies belong to national or industry organizations. The national organizations can help you find a rep who is specialized in your product, your industry or your target client base. The International Union of Commercial Agents and Brokers is an international organization which regroups all the national organizations, and a good place to start.