The situation for 'military equipment' is complex. Certain directives have specific exclusions for military equipment, although I am told that not every member state has actually included such provisions in their national legislation in every case. There is also a blanket exclusion under the treaty of Rome which member states may claim where they believe their national security interests are at risk but as I understand it this is something the member state government would have to apply and cannot simply be claimed by the manufacturer of military equipment.
I have also been told (by the responsible bod in the UK Ministry) that the equipment actually has to be specifically military in nature to be eligible for exclusion where such an exclusion is given in the directives. Accordingly it must have only a military (or police) application (e.g. it must be an offensive weapon of some description). Just because it is being sold to the armed forces does not make it automatically exempt from the CE mark requirements.
The situation (in the UK at least) is further complicated by the status of the Crown with respect to health and safety legislation. This has implications for the CE marking of some equipment because the work equipment directives require products provided for employees' use to meet the applicable essential requirements of the New Approach directives. The actual application of this to the military is far from simple - in effect the occupational H&S Regulations apply in peace time but not during active service, although the legal situation is actually a lot more complex than this. Furthermore, most military installations include civilian government employees for whom the crown immunity does not apply, and if we start to include the status of the different police forces, things get _really_ complicated!
My advice is to consider that the CE Directives do apply regardless of the status of the products with respect to any exemption. If you take this on board at an early stage and plan accordingly, it is likely that little or no additional testing (etc) will be required to that which will be required to meet the military purchase specification anyway. Where it will get a bit more complex is where (if) there is a direct conflict between the 'CE requirements' (indolent shorthand, but I think you'll know what I mean) and the customer's military spec. If you need or want to apply a military/police exclusion from CE marking, try to get a formal notification of some sort that this is permitted from the EU member state in question.
Hope that helps - drop me a line direct if I can help further. Regards Nick. At 10:16 -0700 4/9/2001, Stewart, Judd wrote:
Good morning! I am faced with coming up with a regulatory strategy for equipment that will be sold to a foreign military (member of the EU). The equipment is entirely military and has military unique attributes. The products range from battery operated hand held devices to laptops that can use a battery adapter which plugs into the mains. All units have LI-ION batteries and High voltage inverters for powering the LCD backlight. Some have a standard PCMIA card slot which will allow the user to install a commercial modem if he chooses. We do not provide this card I have reviewed the LVD and EMC directives and find no exclusion for military equipment. Is there? What other directives may be applicable? Thanks in advance Judd Stewart Northrop Grumman San Diego Calif.
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