CRA FAQ

Manufacturers shall determine the support period so that it reflects the length of time during which the product is expected to be in use, taking into account, in particular, reasonable user expectations, the nature of the product, including its intended purpose, as well as relevant Union law determining the lifetime of products with digital elements. When determining the support period, manufacturers may also take into account the support periods of products with digital elements offering a similar functionality placed on the market by other manufacturers, the availability of the operating environment, the support periods of integrated components that provide core functions and are sourced from third parties as well as relevant guidance provided by the dedicated administrative cooperation group (ADCO) established pursuant to Article 52(15) and the Commission. The matters to be taken into account in order to determine the support period shall be considered in a manner that ensures proportionality (Article 13(8), second subparagraph).

Manufacturers are required to determine the support period so that it reflects the length of time during which it is expected to be in use, taking into account, in particular:

• reasonable user expectations;
• the nature of the product, including its intended purpose;
• other Union law determining the lifetime of products with digital elements.

Other relevant factors that manufacturers may take into account include:

• the support period of similar products placed on the market by other manufactures;
• the availability of the operating environment;
• the support period of third-party integrated components providing core functions;
• relevant guidance provided by the CRA ADCO.

All these factors should be taken into account in a manner that ensures proportionality in the determination of the support period.

Therefore, manufacturers are not expected to simply set support periods that correspond to the expected use time (unless the expected use time is less than five years, as discussed in entry 4.5.2 Is there a minimum support period?).

In accordance with Article 13(8), a manufacturer should include in its technical documentation the information that was taken into account to determine the support period of a product with digital elements.

Without prejudice to the second subparagraph, the support period shall be at least five years. Where the product with digital elements is expected to be in use for less than five years, the support period shall correspond to the expected use time (Article 13(8), third subparagraph).

The support period for which the manufacturer ensures the effective handling of vulnerabilities should be no less than five years, unless the lifetime of the product with digital elements is less than five years, in which case the manufacturer should ensure the vulnerability handling for that lifetime. Where the time the product with digital elements is reasonably expected to be in use is longer than five years, as is often the case for hardware components such as motherboards or microprocessors, network devices such as routers, modems or switches, as well as software, such as operating systems or video-editing tools, manufacturers should accordingly ensure longer support periods. In particular, products with digital elements intended for use in industrial settings, such as industrial control systems, are often in use for significantly longer periods of time. A manufacturer should be able to define a support period of less than five years only where this is justified by the nature of the product with digital elements concerned and where that product is expected to be in use for less than five years, in which case the support period should correspond to the expected use time. For instance, the lifetime of a contact tracing application intended for use during a pandemic could be limited to the duration of the pandemic. Moreover, some software applications can by nature only be made available on the basis of a subscription model, in particular where the application becomes unavailable to the user and is consequently not in use anymore once the subscription expires (Recital 60)

The support period needs to be set to at least five years, but that is not sufficient where products with digital elements are reasonably expected to be in use for longer than five years. In such circumstances, manufacturers should consider all relevant factors (see entry 4.5.1 Which criteria should the manufacturer take into account when determining a product’s support period?) which may result in a need to provide for a support period longer than five years.

A support period of less than five years is only justified in situations where the lifetime of the product with digital elements is less than five years. In these cases, the support period shall correspond to the expected use time, without further consideration for the other criteria listed in Article 13(8). This is the case for products that fulfil a very specific purpose (e.g. a contact tracing app to be used during a pandemic), but also for some software applications that can, by nature, only be made available on the basis of a subscription model, particularly where the application becomes unavailable to the user once the subscription expires. For example, some enterprise antivirus software only works for users with an active subscription, as users rely on the availability of up-to-date antivirus definitions, and is no longer accessible when that subscription expires. Similarly, some free and open-source software that is placed on the market can be monetised by its manufacturer only through the sale of paid support services offered on a subscription basis. Therefore, due to its nature of being free and open-source, that software may remain in use after its user stops paying for the support services; in such circumstance, the manufacturer is required to ensure a support period that is equal to the duration of the active subscription.

Manufacturers need to set the support period for all products with digital elements that have been placed on the market after 11 December 2027. Those products can continue to be made available on the market after their support period expires. However, for units of that product that are newly placed on the market, manufacturers are required to set the support period.

For example, a manufacturer produces 10 000 identical units of the same hardware product model or series and places them on the market in January 2028, with a support period of five years (i.e. until January 2033). A distributor manages to sell only a part of those units before the end of the support period. The distributor can continue to make those units available even after January 2033.

On 1 January 2030, the same manufacturer produces an additional 5 000 identical units of that same hardware product model or series and places them on the market. The manufacturer is required to set a support period for those units, in accordance with Article 13(8) of the CRA.