> Distributors in Europe are saying that the > CE marking is a joke. That many companies (European Companies are > mentioned most often) are simply applying the CE marking to their > products without testing.
This is very disturbing news. Given the situation as described, what would be the reaction by the EU to enforce compliance with the applicable directives? The first step will be to identify non-compliant manufacturers. Examination for the presence of the mark is useless, since both compliant and non-compliant products bear the mark. Inspection at the point of import into the EU doesn't work because most of these non-compliant products orginate from within the EU. The only way to identify compliant and non-compliant products is by test. This means that ALL products will have to be tested by the EU or its agent PRIOR to placing on the market! Can you imagine the ramifications? Any wide-spread, deliberate placing of CE-marked non-compliant products on the market will ultimately hurt the rest of us. To protect ourselves, it behooves us to report any deliberate infractions. > More or less to "put the fear of God" into distributors and reassure > our marketing and sales force that delaying product to market for the > CE mark is the right thing to do. Compliance with the law is the right thing to do. Most of us have learned to do this (sometimes through the use of crisis management!) without delaying product to market. Best regards, Rich ------------------------------------------------------------- Richard Nute Quality Department Hewlett-Packard Company Product Regulations Group San Diego Division (SDD) Tel : 619 655 3329 16399 West Bernardo Drive FAX : 619 655 4979 San Diego, California 92127 e-mail: [email protected] -------------------------------------------------------------
