The Conformite Europeenne (CE) Mark is defined as European Union’s (EU) mandatory conformity marking which regulates the goods sold within the European Economic Area (EEA) since 1985[1]. The CE marking represents a declaration from the manufacturer that products comply with EU’s New Approach Directives. These directives not only applies to products within the EU but also for the products that are manufactured and designed to be sold in the EEA. This eventually makes CE marking recognizable worldwide.
What does the CE Marking Indicate?
CE marking is a sort of a standardization mark which indicates the conformity with health, safety, and environmental protection standards for electronic and electrical goods.
The CE mark affixed on the product indicates the following details of the product:
- The product fulfils the requirement of relevant European product directives.
- All the essentials of the relevant recognized European performance and safety standards are fulfilled by the product.
- The product is fit for its purpose and shall not endanger lives or property.
Some Interesting Facts about CE Marking
Present on many categories of products, CE Marking is essential for machinery, electrical and electronic equipment, medical devices and other products.
Following are some of the interesting facts about CE marking:
- CE stands for Conformite Europeenne (French), which means European conformity.
- The CE mark is essential conformity marking for certain products within the European Economic Area (EEA) since 1985.
- CE marking is a self-declaration from the side of the manufacturer, which proves the conformity of the product with EU health, safety and environmental protection legislation and confirms a product’s compliance with relevant requirements.
- With CE mark on your product, you can sell it in the European Union (EU) and in Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.
- Every EU country is responsible for enforcing CE marking by banning products and levying fines on non-compliance.
- Chinese Export or China Export has a similar logo to that of CE. Both the logos should not be confused with each other.
Steps to Certify/ Register Products with CE in India
If you are willing to certify/register your products with CE in India, you need to follow the following steps:
- The first step towards getting a CE mark is to decide a product and model that is to be certified with CE mark. The process of CE marking is product and model specific. The CE marking process varies if the design of product varies in general.
- Once you have decided the product, the second step is to identify CE marking directives applicable in the product decided. Some of the directive names are Machinery directive, low voltage directive LVD, Electromagnetic compatibility EMC directive, PED pressure equipment directive, Lift directive, Construction machinery directive, Toys directive, Medical devices directive etc.
- Next step is to identify harmonic standards applicable in the products to be CE mark as required.
- Moving ahead, you should conduct a risk analysis of requirements of Directive/ standards and products to be CE certified to validate compliance against those directives/ standards.
- Next, get the product to be CE marked, tested (in-house /outside) as per the requirement of Directive/ harmonic standard.
- Some products can be CE marked through self-certification. However, this is not the case with every product. Some products can be marked by involving CE mark notification agency/ competent agency/ competent body. For the products where self-declaration is not recommended, CE making certification/ registration agencies shall be involved right from the designing of the product starts.
- After the preparation of TCF (Technical Construction File) for the product being CE marked, it is forwarded to Certification Agency that is involved in CE certification/registration for review.
Read our article:All you need to know about the CE Certification Process
Affixing of the CE Marking
After complying with EU legislation next step is to affix the CE marking. Some of the rules of affixing of CE mark are as follows:
- The CE mark should be affixed before the product subject to it is placed on the market.
- The CE mark should be easily accessible for all parties.
- CE mark can be affixed on the back or underside of the product, with a minimum height of 5mm to ensure that the mark is legible.
- For small devices or components, the minimum dimension of CE mark may be waived.
- The organizations responsible for affixing should make sure that CE mark cannot be removed under normal circumstances without leaving any noticeable mark.
Things to be considered by Importers and Distributors about CE marking
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Importers |
Distributors |
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They should make sure that the product they place on the market complies with the desired requirements. |
They should have basic knowledge of legal requirements of the products that bear CE marking and the documentation accompanying them. |
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They should make sure that the product doesn’t present any risk to the European public. |
Documentation should be able to identify products that are not according to compliance. |
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Importers should make sure that the manufacturer has taken all necessary steps and documentation is available upon request. |
They must be able to demonstrate to the national authorities the fact that they acted with due care and have affirmation of the product from the manufacturer. |
Take Away
While purchasing any product, every customer looks for the safety and the certification of the product. The CE Marking affixed on the products confirms the product’s compliance with relevant requirements of health, safety and environment. It is to be noted that not all CE Mark certifications require Notified body certifications. It is also possible for few directives to be self-declared by the manufacturer for conformity.
Read our article:What is CE Certification? -Know about it in detail
