CE Marking Explained

The European Commission describes CE Marking as a “Passport to Europe” which allows manufacturers to freely circulate their products within the European market. CE Marking is now mandatory for a wide range of products sold within the European Union. Until 1985 the European Directives demanded specific and detailed requirements per product (category). In line with the European Union’s policy to establish a free trade zone among its member states, a new approach to technical harmonization was adopted in 1985. This “New Approach” means that the European Union sets minimum requirements to industrially manufactured products for ensuring the necessary level of protection with respect to safety, health, and environment.

CE Marking
The letters CE are an abbreviation of the French term “Conformite Europeen”, they indicate that the manufacturer is compliant with all applicable EEC legal requirements of the EU “New Approach Directives”. There are about 30 Directives, either adopted or under consideration, which require that certain products be marked with the “CE Marking”. More than one Directive may apply to any given product. The CE Marking should be affixed to certain products to allow access to the European Territory consisting of 28 countries (all EU Members + Norway,Iceland and Liechtenstein)-also referred to as the European Economic Area or EEA.

The EU member states include:
Austria, Belgium, Denmark, United Kingdom, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia. The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) members include all of the above EU states, plus:
Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland.

Candidate Countries:
Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, and Turkey

Obelis(O.E.A.R.C.) offers superior quality CE Marking services with fully integrated business solutions to assist you in your venture to Europe and/or the United States.

Last updated Dec 28, 2008

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