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CE Marking
We can help you gain easier access into the European market by ensuring your product meets all the CE mark requirements. If you manufacture or import products which fall into the scope of one or more of the New Approach Directives you will then need professional guidance on how to meet all the essential requirements of these directives.
The New Approach Directives will provide a range of compliance routes for your product and show you, usually in a modular format, the available routes to compliance. The essential requirements of the New Approach Directives differ from directive to directive and product to product.
For consumers
CE marking itself is not about quality, nor is it intended to convey any meaning to specifiers, purchasers or end users who are, after all, reasonably entitled to assume that what they buy from a reputable source is legal.
CE marking and European Directives
The letters CE on a product are intended for regulatory surveillance authorities. They represent the manufacturer's claim that the requirements of all relevant European Directives have been satisfied. Many products are covered by these Directives and for some, such as toys, it is a legal requirement to mark the product accordingly.
CE marking on a product, its packaging or accompanying information indicates that the minimum levels of quality and health & safety have been met. CE marking provides for the product to move freely throughout the European Single Market.
CE marking may simply involve testing carried out by the manufacturer or it may involve intervention of an independent third party, depending on the product and the Directive concerned. Purchasers may need to check the CE marking accompanying information to ascertain that the product is appropriate for their needs.
Implementation Plan:
Seven Steps of CE-Marking
Step1: The first steps towards CE-marking your product is determining your product's application and establishing which directives apply to it.
Step2: Applying standards
The process is getting your product to meet the essential requirements laid down in the directives.
Step3: Make sure your product is safe and be able to prove it. So carry out a risk assessment or analysis and show how you meet the requirements laid down in the directives.
Step4: Technical document
Drawing up technical documentation or a technical file, intended to provide information on the design, manufacture and operation of your product.
Step5: User Manual
The fifth step is to apply the product with instructions for the end user, including legal obligations, instructions for use and clear documentations, stating the purpose of the product and the risks related to its use under normal circumstances.
Step6: Declaration of conformity
The sixth step is the declaration on conformity, one of the final steps in the CE marking procedure. The declaration of conformity must contain all relevant product information, including which EU directive(s) the product now complies with.
Step7: Affixing the CE mark
The seventh step is to affixing the CE-mark, which means you declare to all parties Involved that your product conforms to all applicable provisions.
• Indicates that the product can be legally sold within the European Union (EU) and the European Free Trade Area (EFTA).
• Ensures the product can move freely throughout the European single market.
The European CE certification procedure has been mainly set up to:
1. Harmonize all varying national regulations for consumer and industrial products in European Member States, so that the Single Market is encouraged;
2. Bring about cost savings for producers;
3. Enhance the safety of products;
4. Supply public bodies with a uniform procedure that can be checked.
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.