Group EMC-ers About the time I thought I was starting to understand the CE requirements, I'm more baffled than ever. I have a reoccuring situation that I would greatly value any opinions on.
We routinely ship a variety of small digital (ITE) devices to Europe (specifically Ireland). Along with the CE marked digital devices, there are also items such as cables and books. Some devices may be considered components and not marked. The cables are also not CE marked. This mix of items is packed in a single box. There is no external indication on the box that things are CE marked. Each digital product has the CE mark, and its DoC is included in the products documentation. This has been going on for years without any known problems. Now, some of these products arrive at a dealer in Ireland for resale into the EU. Other products may be destined for resale outside the EU into countries who's EMC requirements may or may not have been addressed (those are handled on a case by case basis). I am told by a NB in Ireland that the CE mark is required if the products are to be 'placed on the market' in an EU member country. My question/concern is how do 'they' know which products need the mark, and who is 'they'. I have assumed that there is some sort of checking or enforcement in place, but so far can't find anyone in that country that is aware of it. So I'm left with shipping cartons into Ireland with a posible mix of CE and non-CE marked products. What is the risk of doing this? I had assumed that at some stage in the import process, someone may examine packaging or documentation for CE mark, and possibly reject the carton if it wasn't found. Can anyone clear up what I am supposed to be doing? Some of these items cannot be CE marked for practical reasons, but they will still be going into Ireland on route to their final (non EU) destination. All items need to be in a common carton to keep shipping costs reasonable. What I am starting to assume, is that there is no practical way to enforce the CE mark requirements so enforcement is not attempted at the import stage. I'm sure this varies somewhat by country and may change with time. If this is the case, then I could sleep easier knowing that we are practicing 'due diligence' in CE marking all products placed on the EU market, even though some non CE products are imported though the EU. Can anyone offer any insight? Best regards, Mike Fahrion [email protected] --------- This message is coming from the emc-pstc discussion list. To cancel your subscription, send mail to [email protected] with the single line: "unsubscribe emc-pstc" (without the quotes). For help, send mail to [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], or [email protected] (the list administrators).
