The CE marking is mandatory for many product groups. It is a manufacturer’s or his authorized representative’s declaration that the product meets the requirements stated in the New Approach directives. Machinery, toys, medical devices as well as all devices that generate electromagnetic interference are subject to the legislation on CE marking in the EEA. However, there is plenty of products that do not need CE marking. Below we list goods without CE marking.
The Member States of the European Union decided to lift trade barriers to stimulate mutual trade and to establish a common policy with non-EU countries. Thus, the single European market was created. One of the main obstacles was national requirements regarding for example product quality and safety. In order to allow the free circulation of goods, it was necessary to harmonize national systems in such a way that in every State Member, the requirements would be the same. So, the New Approach directives came into life. The directives state the basic safety principles for products to be placed on the single European market. The CE marking is the manufacturer’s declaration that the product complies with the directives. Below we list which products need CE marking.
Guest entry by Piotr R. Gajos, a Product Assessment Specialist of RiskCE
I’d like to thank my colleagues from www.ExamineChina.com for inviting me to post a few entries on the “CE marking” topic. I liked the idea even more because of a mystery this topic still poses for a lot of people, which in case of importing goods from China can put a company at risk of huge expenses and troubles with an unwanted product.
Along with the rise of the China’s due diligence, the requirement of providing CE certificate has become ubiquitous. But to the surprise of many companies importing from China, CE certificate has some limitations, and even if it was confirmed by the issuing agency, it does not necessary guarantee the quality of imported products. What should we remember to avoid problems?
We have already started a cycle of blog posts entitled “Glossary of terms”. This time we will describe CE mark, its usage and the most common problems.
The knowledge of the most important terms used in international trade is crucial for mutual understanding. We will present the most common international trade terms accompanied with the detailed definition.
What is the Certificate of Origin?
Generally speaking, it is a document, which proves that the goods in a particular export shipment have been wholly obtained, produced, manufactured or processed in a particular country. The name can be abbreviated to C/O or COO. The origin of goods is important for tax and tariff authorities (for example duty is applicable in the case of buying goods in country A, but not in country B). While a lot of Chinese products are exempted from duty, there are still some categories in which the EU uses duty as a market protection tool.
