CE Marking

Why CE Marking?

The European Union (EU) strives for free trade between member states. In order to achieve this objective, the European Commission has established the CE Scheme Directives over the years before "Europe 2001". Local governments have agreed among each other to convert these directives into national legislation. In this way trade barriers, in the form of a wide range of national product requirements are removed.

European Authorized Representative

Whenever a manufacturer outside the European Community or an importer does not want to be the holder of the Declaration of Conformity (DoC) and the Technical Construction Dossier (TCD) they can assign an authorized representative. Some companies like European Authorised Representative (EAR) provide such a service.

DARE!! Consultancy performs measurements and examinations in accordance to the Directives and is as such enabling customers to apply CE Marking.

What is CE Marking?

The CE Mark is the official mark required by the European Community for all electrical and electronic equipment that will be sold, or put into service for the first time, anywhere in the Community. It proves to the buyer or user that this product fulfils all essential safety and environmental requirements as they are laid down by the European Directives. The CE Markings directive (93/68/EEC) was adopted on 22 July 1993. DARE!! Consultancy performs full compliant measurements in accordance with the following directives:

Conformité Européenne 

Products that come under the 'New Approach' directives, and comply with their requirements, have to be marked with the CE Mark (Conformité Européenne) by the manufacturer. Products that come under a directive, but are not CE marked, are no longer allowed to be sold or put into use. The CE mark itself can be placed on any product whether it is the end product or a subcomponent. The manufacturer is free to choose whether he certifies all subcomponents for maximum flexibility or the finished product to keep costs down. The CE mark is not intended as a guarantee of quality for the consumer, but shows that a product complies with the fundamental safety requirements of the applicable directive.

Directives

Before 1985 directives demanded specific and detailed requirements per product or category. Later on, the European Union took another approach, the so-called 'New Approach'. Directives in accordance with this move contain broad product categories that define fundamental requirements in the areas of safety, health, environment and protection of the consumer. These fundamental requirements are first roughly formulated and then more precisely worked out as harmonized standards. The requirements in the directive indicate with which standards a product has to comply. The standards indicate how to achieve this result.


European Economic Area

On January 1st 1994 the EU and the EFTA countries (later on also Liechtenstein), with the exception of Switzerland, signed an agreement for the creation of a European Economic Area (EEA). Based on this agreement, the EU directives will also be part of the national legislation of the EFTA countries and the CE Mark will be accepted in those countries. By putting the CE Mark on its products the manufacturer or importer declares that the product satisfies ALL applicable directives. For this purpose a "Declaration of Conformity" has to be drawn up and signed by an authorized person from the manufacturer or importer. The Declaration of Conformity contains a unique identifier for the equipment, an identifier of the manufacturer or importer, a list of directives the product complies with and a dated signature. CE marking is a self-certifying procedure thus the manufacturer or importer remains liable for the product at all times.


Overview of the CE Marking Directives: