Hi Andy. You wrote:
<I've just been informed by our regulatory folk that France now requires ALL products to be CE marked prior to importation into the country. Apparently this applies to evaluation units, demos, or even prototypes. Obviously, this cannot be totally true, since prototype equipment that goes throughout the world for demonstration purposes (while still in the product development cycle) cannot possibly be expected to fulfill all relevent Compliance requirements. I seem to recall seeing that equipment in this condition could be allowed Entry into THE ENTIRE EEC. Why is France so special? Can they really Impart their own requirements in addition to what the rest of the EEC has Agreed to?> --------------------------reply------------------- I don't have a copy of the EC EMC directive infront of me, but I'm fairly certain that an Article in that tome gives equipment destined for exhibitions a free run, and that may describe your Demo equipment. France is a proud and individualistic nation with a long history of unique scientific achievements and the world owes them much gratitude for such things as the Metric System and a singularly large statue situated at the entrance to New York's waterways. This individuality shows at the extremes of the national behavioural map as a particularly introspective view of the world which may seem to the Cosmopolitanly Challenged amongst us as slightly 'difficult' or 'protectionist', but I am sure that this is a distorted view. Europe has spent many years and expended much effort in finally getting all the European States to agree a common date for the time change used for Daylight Saving. Just as that was agreed, the French (for very good reasons which are extensively discussed in the French technical press) have had to pull out of the arrangement so painfully arrived at after so many years, and make entirely different plans. I'm sure they had no other choice, being uniquely placed so near the edge of the European land mass. Many years ago, I recall it was reported that in order to import Video Recorders into France, all had to be subject to the paperwork being arranged in one particular small office in the middle of France, rather than at the port of entry. This was a magnanimous gesture to speed things up, as the office in question was very small, and underworked, and so could concentrate on the task rather than making the applicants wait in a queue at a noisy and smelly port. It also provided this office with valuable work and alleviated the task placed hitherto on the port workers. This arrangement was to everybody's advantage, though the more cynical amongst the bitter baling hounds of the uninformed press suggested that this was a slowing tactic to give local products an advantage. Pish, let their pens turn to Grissini. Have a good day, Chris Dupres. Surrey, UK
