Hi Ben, In your reply, you stated:
>As far as electrical safety is concerned the MRA offers little advantage >since the possibility of local assessment of products was already possible. >You should also be aware that approvals such as UL markings are not covered >by the MRA since they are not mandated through legislation. The requirement >to place UL or equivalent marks on products is voluntary, although you may >experience difficulty selling products which are not marked! Products >intended for the US market must still be safe though. Voluntary, bah..... In the USA, NRTL safety approvals, thus NRTL safety marks, for equipment intended for the commercial environment, in fact, are required AND mandated through legislation. This requirement is found in the US's Code of Federal Regulations (29CFR Part 1910 Subpart S) and is regulated by the US Dept. of Labor (I'm not so sure about the requirements of products intended for the residential environment). With that being said, UL or other NRTL safety marks are also required, however, it is up to the manufacturer to decide which NRTL, therefore which NRTL mark, to use. As you are very likely aware, Europe's Low Voltage Directive (safety) is self-declaration based. As such, the LVD scheme is much different from the USA's legislated safety approval scheme. To my knowledge, the US-EU MRA is supposed to address regulatory approval schemes, including electrical safety. But, these underlying differences in safety approval schemes may not yield a commonly agreed upon safety approval scheme. So, this may be one aspect of the US-EU MRA that may remain unresolved. As always, comments are encouraged. Also, if anyone is intimate with the electrical safety aspect of the US-EU MRA, please reply to these groups with any up-to-date news in this area. Best regards, Ron Pickard [email protected]
