Scott, MACHINERY DIRECTIVE I don't know which Directive your new product falls under, but the Machinery Directive has specific exclusions dealing with demo products, "Whereas, for trade fairs, exhibitions, etc., it must be possible to exhibit machinery which does not conform to this Directive; whereas, however, interested parties should be properly informed that the machinery does not conform and cannot be purchased in that condition;".
Article 2(3) of the Machinery Directive also states, "At trade fairs, exhibitions, demonstrations, etc., Member States shall not prevent the showing of machinery or safety components which do not conform to the provisions of this Directive, provided that a visible sign clearly indicates that such machinery or safety components does not conform and that they are not for sale until they have been brought into conformity by the manufacturer or his authorized representative established in the Community. During demonstrations, adequate safety measures shall be taken to ensure the protection of persons." (89/392/EEC as ammended by 93/44/EEC). In addition, the European Commission (DGIII) also published a Machinery Working Party, 89/392/EEC Committee, Document 93.6 rev. 1 specifically answering this question: "PQ.53 If a manufacturer installs machinery on the premises of a potential customer for him to evaluate it but the machinery is not sold and remains the property of the manufacturer, does it have to bear the CE Marking and meet the other requirements applicable to it? PA.53 This is a typical case because as long as the machinery remains the property of the manufacturer and as long as the operators are the manufacturer's employeed the machinery has not been placed on the market; as soon as the satisfied customer takes delivery the machinery has to comply with the Directive, bear the CE Marking, etc. The manufacturer has to make sure that a notice is affixed in the vicinity saying that the machinery is not in conformity with the Directive (Article 2(3)). The situation is different if the manufacturer has supplied the machinery for evaluation by the potential customer. In this case, the machinery has to be considered as placed on the market (handed over provisionally but handed over all the same) and placed in service in accordance with Article 2(2) and must be entirely in conformity with the Directive. EMC DIRECTIVE Although this issue is not specifically addressed in the text of the EMC Directive, the general philosophy above is fairly consistently applied for products falling under the EMC Directive. Specifically, if a product is 'placed on the market' or 'put into service', it would require to be fully compliant with the EMC Directive. The position is backed up by a European Commission's publication, "Guidelines on the application of Council Directive 89/336/EEC of 3 May 1989 on the Approximation of the Laws of the Member States relating to Electromagnetic Compatibility" Brussels, 25 & 26 October 1993. (I believe a more recent draft or perhaps even the final updated of this Guidelines has just been released and is even posted in the RCIC in electronic format, http://uc.com/bin/dbml.dll?template=rcic/emcguide). Article 2.1 of this Guideline hadn't changed too much and it notes specifically that "The placing of a product on the market does not concern: - the disposal of the product from the manufacturer to his authorized representative established within - the Community who is responsible for the manufacturer for ensuring compliance with the Directive; - importation into the Community market for the purpose of re-exportation, i.e., under the processing traffic system - the manufacture of the product in the Community market for the purpose of exportation to a third country; - the display of the product at trade fairs and exhibitions. SUMMARY (PERSONAL COMMENT/INTERPRETATION): Based on the above sources, my comment is that as long as the product in question is not being placed on the market (meaning the system is not sold and is being demo'd by the manufacturer's personnel only) or put into service, and a notice stating that product is not in conformity, you may ship a non-CE Marking product. There's no maximum time period that I am aware for a system to be considered as a display at the trade fair and no specific paperwork other than the notice needed. Depending on your product, it may have initial problems entering the EU, so a letter or declaration stating that the product is only intended to be a demo product and will not be placed on the market operated or put into service, may be a good idea. Hope this helps. Regards, Tin In a message dated 97-09-22 12:42:56 EDT, sdoug...@ecrm.com writes: << Hi To All, In the process of developing a new product we hit a snag. We bought very expensive ($10,000) components for a new product. This happened just before the manufacturer implemented CE compliance changes. In order to get these components CE marked, they must undergo a $11,000 upgrade or be replaced. Don't want to do either one. Have a need to send a Beta unit to a customer in the EU for evaluation purposes. This wants to happen next week. If customer likes unit, they may want to keep it. I expect in long term we will have to replace / upgrade the component on this unit. Future production will be fully compliant or it won't ship. Questions: Can I send unit as demo / evalution unit direct to customer without CE marking? I think I can if I label it as demo unit. Is there anything written down about this time frame? To whom must I report this timeframe? Who follow's up on these demo type of shipments to see they are returned to manufacturer? How long can demo / evaluation period last? This is one that got past the compliance guy. He knows better than to allow non-compliant components into the product. The manufacturer sent in copies of Declarations, test records, etc. showing the componets were indeed compliant. What the compliance guy did not know or forgot to check was that the development group ordered ten of these things as part of the development process. When reviewing the first production beta unit, he finds the non-compliant component. Further homework shows the components were built between two months and two years before it became CE compliant. So how can he demo this thing and for how long? All responses much appreciated. ________________________ Regards, Scott Douglas Principal Compliance Engineer ECRM Incorporated Telephone: 1-508-851-0207 Facsimilie: 1-508-851-7016 e-mail: sdoug...@ecrm.com >> --------------------- Forwarded message: From: sdoug...@ecrm.com (DouglasScott) Sender: owner-emc-p...@majordomo.ieee.org Reply-to: sdoug...@ecrm.com (DouglasScott) To: emc-p...@ieee.org (emc-pstc) List-Post: emc-pstc@listserv.ieee.org Date: 97-09-22 12:42:56 EDT Hi To All, In the process of developing a new product we hit a snag. We bought very expensive ($10,000) components for a new product. This happened just before the manufacturer implemented CE compliance changes. In order to get these components CE marked, they must undergo a $11,000 upgrade or be replaced. Don't want to do either one. Have a need to send a Beta unit to a customer in the EU for evaluation purposes. This wants to happen next week. If customer likes unit, they may want to keep it. I expect in long term we will have to replace / upgrade the component on this unit. Future production will be fully compliant or it won't ship. Questions: Can I send unit as demo / evalution unit direct to customer without CE marking? I think I can if I label it as demo unit. Is there anything written down about this time frame? To whom must I report this timeframe? Who follow's up on these demo type of shipments to see they are returned to manufacturer? How long can demo / evaluation period last? This is one that got past the compliance guy. He knows better than to allow non-compliant components into the product. The manufacturer sent in copies of Declarations, test records, etc. showing the componets were indeed compliant. What the compliance guy did not know or forgot to check was that the development group ordered ten of these things as part of the development process. When reviewing the first production beta unit, he finds the non-compliant component. Further homework shows the components were built between two months and two years before it became CE compliant. So how can he demo this thing and for how long? All responses much appreciated. ________________________ Regards, Scott Douglas Principal Compliance Engineer ECRM Incorporated Telephone: 1-508-851-0207 Facsimilie: 1-508-851-7016 e-mail: sdoug...@ecrm.com ________________________
