CE Certification

December 20th, 2009 Posted in Documents and items required to import goods into the UK | Comments Off

Documents

The CE marking (also known as CE mark) is a mandatory conformity mark on many products placed on the single market in the European Economic Area (EEA). The CE marking certifies that a product has met EU consumer safety, health or environmental requirements.

If you don’t use the CE mark when required to, you may be instructed to remove your products from sale until they’re properly marked. If there are safety concerns, you could be fined or even imprisoned.
When applying for a CE mark you need to establish first which, if any, of the New Approach Directives or older Global Approach Directives applies to your product. CE marking only applies to products within the scope of these Directives. It should not be applied to products if they are outside the scope of the Directives.

As a Notified Body for 17 Directives, BSI Product Services offers one of the most comprehensive certification services in the world.

BSI can also offer Notified Body Services for the In Vitro Diagnostic Medical Devices Directive – 98/79/EC, through a partner.

Other European directives, which BSI is not a Notified Body for:

  • Cableway Installations for Passengers – 2000/9/EC
  • Energy Efficiency: Household Refrigerators & Freezers – 96/57/EC
  • Explosives for Civil Uses – 93/15/EEC
  • Packaging and Packaging Waster – 94/62/EC
  • Recreational Craft – 94/25/EC
  • Simple Pressure Vessels – 87/404/EEC
  • Toys – 88/378/EEC

For further information about EU directives, please Contact BSI.

If you are looking to importing from China and CE Certification does apply to the item you will require the manufacture to provide you with the CE Certification certificate.

Some agents of manufactures will claim to have the CE mark but this CE mark could just sand for China Export, which is not conforming to European specifications. The two letters are close together, not spaced as in the European conformance mark.

If your product requires CE Certification and your manufacture can not supply you with the Certification then the BSI, have a team of experts who understand precisely what each Directive requires for each product.

They can help take you through the CE marking (CE mark) process in these simple steps:

BSI CE MARKING

1. Identify the Directive(s) that are applicable to your product.
You can download these directives free of charge from the European Union website

2. Identify the conformity assessment procedure that must be taken.
This could be self-declaration, involve testing, inspection or quality system assessment from a Notified Body or a combination of these. The conformity assessment procedure will differ depending on your product and the Directive in respect of which you will be CE marking (CE mark). If you are unsure about which procedure to take, please contact them for advice.

3. Determine the dates by which you must take action.
This will be the date that the Directive comes into force. The majority of directives are already in force. In these cases, it is an offence to place a product on the market without CE marking because it indicates a presumption of conformity with all relevant Legislation.

4. Identify if there are any Harmonised European Standards applicable to your product. These are not always mandatory for manufacturers although there is a presumption that conformity to these standards will give conformity with the relevant part of the Directive. Whenever possible or appropriate, manufacturers should follow harmonised standards.

5. Ensure the product complies with all the essential requirements of the Directive(s).
Take appropriate measures to comply or identify existing data and test reports.

6. Identify whether independent assessment of your conformity to the Directive, or some aspects of it, is required from a Notified Body.
This will be stated in the directive and is dependent upon the product you are CE marking. You must not affix CE marking to your product until all necessary certifications have been obtained from the Notified Body.

7. Maintain Technical Documentation required by the Directive(s).
Your technical documentation should support your compliance with the requirements of the Directive. It is essential to retain this documentation.

8. Prepare the Declaration of Conformity and the required supporting evidence.
The Declaration of Conformity along with the Technical Documentation should be available to Competent Authorities (EU Members) upon request.

9. Check that no other purely national requirements exist in the countries where the product will be sold.
These may include national standards, labelling or packaging requirements.

10. Affix CE marking on your product and/or its packaging and accompanying literature as stated in the directive.

Note if your item requires a CE mark that cannot be provided by the manufacture it maybe best to speak to the BSI first before any money is spent. The cost of acquiring CE Certification could run into the thousands. For example a resistor in a electrical item such as a laptop has about 5 components and each of those would have to be checked.

For more information contact us "Still not sure if you require CE Certification? If you import through Discount Giant we will be able to find out and assist you in obtaining all the documents you need to get your items imported into the UK. Drop us a line and see what we can do for you"