CE Marking: Passport for entry in Europe
Product Certification
The EU introduced the CE marking scheme to make trade easier and cheaper between EU countries. It means that a manufacturer claims that their product conforms to the minimum legal requirements for health and safety as laid down in EU directives.
Often customers will look for CE marking on a product as an indication of conformance to laid down minimum standards, and therefore a minimum level of quality that other products may lack.
If you manufacture or import a product which falls within the scope of one or more of the New Approach Directives and wish to place your product on the market in any of the members states of the European Economic Area (EEA), then you must apply CE marking to your product against the essential requirements of all these applicable directives.
Product Directives contains the “essential requirements” and/or “performance levels” and “Harmonized Standards” to which the products must conform. Harmonized Standards are the technical specifications (European Standards or Harmonization Documents) which are established by several European standards agencies (CEN, CENELEC, etc).
- CEN stands for European Committee for Standardization
- Cenelec stands for European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization
- CE Marking on a product indicates to governmental officials that the product may be legally placed on the market in their country
- CE Marking on a product ensures the free movement of the product within the EFTA & European Union (EU) single market (total 30 countries)
- CE Marking on a product permits the withdrawal of the non-conforming products by customs and enforcement/vigilance authorities
Along with more directives’ becoming effective, more and more products are required to bear the CE Marking for gaining access to the EFTA & European Union market. However, many non-EU exporters are still unaware of or unsure about this fact and its impact on their business.
How Do You Benefit From CE Marking?
The EU introduced the CE marking scheme to make trade easier and cheaper between EU countries. It means that a manufacturer claims that their product conforms to the minimum legal requirements for health and safety as laid down in EU directives.
The great benefit for manufacturers is that there is now only one set of requirements and procedures to comply with in designing and manufacturing a product for the entire EEA. The various and conflicting national regulations are eliminated. As a result, the product no longer needs to be adapted to the specific requirements of the different member states of the EEA.
In addition, it may be considered a benefit that by implementing the requirements, the product will be safer for the user and this may also reduce damage and liability claims.
Additional benefits may include your product being made safer for end-users
Develop new EU markets more easily
When your products carry the CE Marking you will find that importers, distributors and sales agents will be easier to appoint as they do not have to deal with complex compliance regulations. They will not want to get involved with product certification which requires complex professional expertise. They will probably excel in marketing and sales, but are they equipped in handling regulatory and legal issues?
