12.—(1) A manufacturer may, by written mandate, appoint a person as their authorised representative to perform specified tasks on the manufacturer's behalf.
(2) The mandate must allow the authorised representative to do at least the following in relation to a civil explosive covered by the mandate—
(a)perform the manufacturer's obligations under regulation 8 (Retention of technical documentation and EU declaration of conformity); and
(b)perform the manufacturer's obligations under regulation 20 (Provision of information and cooperation).
(3) A manufacturer must not delegate the performance of their functions under regulation 5 (Design and manufacture in accordance with essential safety requirements) and regulation 6 (Technical documentation and conformity assessment) to an authorised representative.
(4) An authorised representative must comply with all the duties imposed on the manufacturer in relation to each obligation under this Part that the authorised representative is appointed by the manufacturer to perform, and accordingly—
(a)as far as those duties are concerned, references in this Part (except in this regulation) to the manufacturer are to be taken as including a reference to the authorised representative; and
(b)if the authorised representative contravenes or fails to comply with any of those duties, the authorised representative may be proceeded against as though the authorised representative were the manufacturer.
(5) A manufacturer who has appointed an authorised representative to perform on their behalf an obligation under this Part remains responsible for the proper performance of that obligation.