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1. Operators shall exercise due diligence in accordance with Article 8 prior to placing relevant products on the market or exporting them in order to prove that the relevant products comply with Article 3.

2. Operators shall not place relevant products on the market or export them without prior submission of a due diligence statement. Operators who, on the basis of the due diligence exercised in accordance with Article 8, conclude that the relevant products comply with Article 3 shall, before placing the relevant products on the market or exporting them, make available a due diligence statement to the competent authorities through the information system referred to in Article 33. Such electronically available and transmittable due diligence statement shall contain the information set out in Annex II for the relevant products and a declaration by the operator that the operator exercised due diligence and that no or only a negligible risk was found.

3. By making available the due diligence statement to competent authorities, the operator shall assume responsibility for the compliance of the relevant product with Article 3. Operators shall keep a record of the due diligence statements for five years from the date the statement is submitted through the information system referred to in Article 33.

4. Operators shall not place relevant products on the market or export them where one or more of the following cases apply:

(a) the relevant products are non-compliant;

(b) the exercise of due diligence has revealed a non-negligible risk that the relevant products are non-compliant;

(c) the operator was unable to fulfil the obligations referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2.

5. Operators that obtain or are made aware of relevant new information, including substantiated concerns, indicating that a relevant product that they have placed 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 the relevant product on the market, as well as traders to whom they supplied the relevant product. In the case of exports, the operators shall inform the competent authority of the Member State which is the country of production.

6. Operators shall offer all necessary assistance to the competent authorities to facilitate the carrying out of the checks under Article 18, including access to premises and the making available of documentation and records.

7. Operators shall communicate to operators and to traders further down the supply chain of the relevant products they placed on the market or exported all information necessary to demonstrate that due diligence was exercised and that no or only a negligible risk was found, including the reference numbers of the due diligence statements associated to those products.

8. By way of derogation from paragraph 1 of this Article, operators that are SMEs (‘SME operators’) shall not be required to exercise due diligence for relevant products contained in or made from relevant products that have already been subject to due diligence in accordance with paragraph 1 of this Article and for which a due diligence statement has already been submitted in accordance with Article 33. In such cases, SME operators shall provide the competent authorities with the reference number of the due diligence statement upon request. For parts of relevant products that have not been subject to due diligence, the SME operators shall exercise due diligence in accordance with paragraph 1 of this Article.

9. Operators that are not SMEs (‘non-SME operators’) may refer to due diligence statements that have already been submitted in accordance with Article 33 only after having ascertained that the due diligence relating to the relevant products contained in or made from the relevant products was exercised in accordance with paragraph 1 of this Article. They shall include the reference numbers of such due diligence statements that have already been submitted in accordance with Article 33 in the due diligence statements that they submit under paragraph 2 of this Article. For parts of relevant products that have not been subject to due diligence, non-SME operators shall exercise due diligence in accordance with paragraph 1 of this Article.

10. Any operator referring to a due diligence statement that has already been submitted in accordance with Article 33 shall retain responsibility for the compliance of the relevant products with Article 3, including that no or only a negligible risk was found, prior to placing such relevant products on the market or exporting them.