These notes are intended to provide reference material for businesses on how
to “CE mark” products.
They may help you ensure your product complies with the relevant
legislation, especially if you want to sell your product overseas or
use/sell imported products from overseas.
By thinking of the issues discussed in the notes in advance, you could save
your company time and money, avoid doing something illegal and add the
potential of selling your product in new markets. |
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Nobody likes regulation. However it is often necessary in order to produce
fair markets in which legitimate businesses producing and selling safe
products of a high standard are protected from unfair competition.
This information pack has been compiled by your local Trading Standards
Department as part of a new scheme to advise your business on legislation
issues.
We are there to help you at an early stage and to make your company
anticipate and react to potential problems from the word go.
If your business manufacturers or imports products in the categories below,
and would benefit from some more advice in the area of CE marking, why not
sign up for one of our forthcoming seminars on the subject. Specialist
Trading Standards Officers, as well as expert staff from the DTI, will be on
hand to offer your company one to one support on how the issue of CE marking
affects your company.
This advisory scheme forms part of a wider programme of activities all
geared to help companies trade internationally . the other activities
1. Which businesses are affected by CE Marking?
2. Manufacturers
3. Importers
4. Distributors
5. Retailers
If you manufacture or sell products in the UK or the rest of the EU, you
will have to comply with the relevant European Directive in your field to
demonstrate that your products or the products you sell are ‘fit for their
intended use’.
2. How do you demonstrate this?
The way to show you comply is to ‘CE mark’ your product. This symbol is not
a quality standard or an indication that products comply with European or
other standards. It is merely a tool to show buyers that your products
comply to the specific requirements set out in the directive and that the
relevant tests have been carried out. It acts like a passport for your
products, allowing them to travel freely within an agreed area (see below).
It is illegal to supply a product that does not comply and manufacturers and
traders can be prosecuted if products do not carry the mark when required
to.
3. What brought about the CE Marking Directives?
Because each country within the European Union has its own laws and
regulations, it can be difficult for manufacturers to market their products
in each of these countries. The New Approach Directives and the use of the
CE Marking try to solve this problem because the symbol means the same thing
in all the member states of the European Union.
4. How do you go about CE Marking your products?
The way you have to go about getting the CE Mark varies depending on what
your product is. More detailed notes in this pack cover the following
products:
1. Electrical Safety (1994)
2. Toys (1995)
3. Simple Pressure Vessels (mid-1993)
4. Electromagnetic Compatibility (1996)
5. Personal Protective Equipment (mid-1995)
ISO Certification