Declarations of conformity
What is a Declaration of Conformity?
A Declaration of Conformity (DoC) is a mandatory legal document under EU product legislation. In it, the manufacturer, importer, or authorised representative declares — under their sole responsibility — that a battery product meets all applicable EU legal requirements, including EU Battery Regulation 2023/1542.
The DoC is not optional. Any battery placed on the EU market must be accompanied by a Declaration of Conformity. It is one of the core conformity assessment outputs required before a product can bear CE marking, and it must be made available to market surveillance authorities on request.
The legal basis for the DoC requirement for batteries is Article 18 and Annex IX of EU Regulation 2023/1542.
Where to find Declarations of Conformity in Traceable
Declarations of Conformity are stored as product-level documents. You can locate them in two ways:
Via the global Documents section: Navigate to Compliance → Documents in the main navigation. Use the Category filter and select Declaration of Conformity to list all DoCs across all products.
Via the product: Navigate to the product → Compliance tab → Declarations sub-section to see DoCs specific to that product.
Creating a Declaration of Conformity in Traceable
- Navigate to the product for which you are creating the DoC.
- Select the Compliance tab.
- Select the Declarations sub-section.
- Click New declaration.
- Complete all required fields (see below).
- Apply a digital signature.
- Click Issue declaration to finalise.
The issued DoC is stored as a PDF document linked to the product and is available for download at any time.
Required elements
EU Battery Regulation Annex IX specifies the mandatory content of a Declaration of Conformity. Traceable's DoC form enforces all required fields:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer name | Full legal name of the manufacturer |
| Manufacturer address | Registered address of the manufacturer |
| Importer name and address | Required if the manufacturer is outside the EU |
| Authorised representative | If signing authority is delegated |
| Product description | Battery name, model number, and category (EV, LMT, Industrial, SLI, Portable) |
| Battery chemistry | Cell chemistry (e.g. NMC, LFP, NCA, Lead-acid) |
| Applicable legislation | List of EU legislation this declaration covers — must include EU 2023/1542; include additional applicable directives (e.g. Low Voltage Directive 2014/35/EU, EMC Directive 2014/30/EU) as relevant |
| Standards applied | Harmonised standards used to demonstrate conformity (e.g. IEC 62619, IEC 62133) |
| Notified body | If conformity assessment involved a notified body, include name, address, and identification number |
| Statement of conformity | Free-text declaration statement confirming the product meets the requirements of the cited legislation |
| Place of issue | City and country where the declaration is issued |
| Date of issue | Date the declaration is signed and issued |
| Signatory name | Full name of the authorised signatory |
| Signatory role | Job title or role of the signatory (e.g. Quality Director, CEO) |
| Signature | Applied via Traceable's digital signature feature |
All fields are mandatory. Traceable will not allow the declaration to be issued if required fields are incomplete.
Digital signature flow
Traceable's digital signature feature creates a timestamped, identity-linked signature record for each DoC. This provides stronger evidentiary value than a scanned wet signature, as it binds the signatory's verified identity to the document at a specific point in time.
To sign a declaration:
- Complete all required declaration fields.
- Click Sign & issue.
- Confirm your identity via the authentication challenge (password re-entry or MFA prompt, depending on your account settings).
- Traceable generates the signed DoC PDF and records the signature event in the audit trail.
The signature record includes: signatory name, signatory email, account-verified identity, timestamp (UTC), and a document hash that allows integrity verification.
Only users with the Manager or Admin role can sign declarations. Viewers cannot issue or sign declarations.
Declaration versioning
A Declaration of Conformity is valid for a specific product configuration at a specific point in time. If any of the following change, a new declaration must be created:
- Product model designation or description
- Battery chemistry or cell specification
- Applicable legislation (e.g. a new directive comes into force)
- Manufacturing site
- Conformity assessment outcome or notified body involvement
- Any change that affects the basis on which conformity was originally declared
Traceable automatically versions declarations. Previous declarations are retained as historical records and marked with their issuance date and the product version at the time. The current active declaration is clearly labelled.
Do not modify or overwrite an issued declaration. Issue a new one instead. Issued declarations are locked from editing to preserve their legal integrity.
Retention
EU Battery Regulation Article 18(9) requires the Declaration of Conformity to be kept for 10 years from the date of placing the last batch of the product on the market.
To ensure DoCs are protected from automatic deletion:
- Navigate to Settings → Data Retention.
- Confirm that the retention policy for the Declaration of Conformity document category is set to at least 10 years.
- Alternatively, mark individual DoCs as Protected from the document detail view — protected documents are excluded from all automated retention and deletion processes regardless of policy settings.
Traceable will warn you before any deletion action that would affect a DoC document type.