Hi Charlie,
You made an interesting statement. You said "I don’t have it formally,
but you can’t legally declare compliance with something that is not in
force at the time you sign it". You made a mistake by including the
statement is "in force". We do have a formal published Europa statement
in both the EMC Directive 2014/30/EU and the Low Voltage Directive
2014/35/EU that: "This directive *_shall_* enter into force on the
twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal
of the European Union." (Emphasis on "shall" is mine.) Both were
published in the Official Journal on 29 March 2014, so both are in force
as of 18 April 2014. Europe wisely gave manufacturers two years to
transition to the new directives, so products may continue to be sold in
Europe with CE marks that only comply with the old directives until 20
April 2016, but on 20 April 2016 the new directives become mandatory.
As we have seen on this chat group, you are not alone in your view. Some
people I highly respect (that group includes you) share your view. They
believe that Europe will only allow products having a DOC listing only
the old directives until 11:59pm, 19 April 2016; then someone from each
company must immediately sign new DOCs to maintain the product CE marks
at precisely midnight (or 12:00am) on 20 April 2016 (Wednesday). What
is not clear is which time zone should be used for signing this DOC, or
if one must keep re-signing a DOC again each hour of the European time
zones. I make this point because USA manufacturers may be eight hours
behind Europe and miss a whole day of imports and sales in Europe if we
were to just use the date & time of the manufacturer's time zone (the
one signing the DOC). Because this is so unreasonable, one person
stated on this PSES chat that they had a private conversation with an
unnamed official that said that UK won't enforce the Europe laws (the
new directives) for the first year to provide an unofficial transition
period ... but that same official would not put that into writing.
Instead, I believe it makes more sense for Europe to implement what is
actually written in the directives which already provides a reasonable
two year transition period between the new directives going into force
(18 April 2014) and the old directives being repealed (20 April 2016).
Let me open up an additional debate issue. For the transition, I
recommend declaring to both the old and the new directives. These
directives are compatible (no conflicts), so your product can comply
with both. I suggest DOC wording similar to what is listed below:
- - - - - - - - - - -
This product complies with the requirements of the European Union
directives listed below:
2014/35/EU (2006/95/EC) Low Voltage Directive
2014/30/EU (2004/108/EC) EMC Directive
2011/65/EU (2002/95/EC) Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS)
Directive
- - - - - - - - - - -
I have heard some say that one may not cite both old & new directives on
the same DOC, but I have never seen anything official from Europa that
prohibits this.
Thanks.
Monrad
<http://www.oracle.com>
On 3/24/2015 7:44 AM, Charlie Blackham wrote:
Monrad
I should have just put the *shall apply from 20 April 2016*into bold,
and not just the Annex.
> Please provide an official European Union (EU) document that confirms
that "Declarations against these new Directives cannot be issued until
20 April 2016 as they have no legal standing until then."
I don’t have it formally, but you can’t legally declare compliance
with something that is not in force at the time you sign it and
http://ec.europa.eu/growth/sectors/electrical-engineering/directives/index_en.htm
states
*New LVD Directive 2014/35/EU*
As of 20 April 2016, Directive 2006/95/EC will be repealed by the new
LVD Directive 2014/35/EU. This directive is aligned to the New
Legislative Framework policy. Nevertheless, Directive 2014/35/EU will
keep the same scope and safety objectives as Directive 2006/95/EC.
And
*New EMC Directive (2014/30/EU)*
In February 2014, the European Parliament and Council issued a new EMC
Directive aligned to the New Legislative Framework. This new
Directive will be applicable from 20 April 2016.
The new Directives have an article on “repeal” of the old directive –
a similar clause is contained in 2011/65/EU which came into force in a
“planned way” on 2^nd January 2013
Additionally, Lists of Harmonised Standards will not be published
until close to the date in April, and whilst they’re not mandatory,
without them there can be no “presumption of conformity”
The main changes are to economic operators in the supply chain, and
not to manufacturers, unless their products fall into scope of the
Radio Equipment Directive and so move out of scope of EMC/LVD a little
bit late in June 2016.
Regards
Charlie
*From:*Monrad Monsen [mailto:monrad.mon...@oracle.com]
*Sent:* 23 March 2015 22:31
*To:* Charlie Blackham
*Cc:* EMC-PSTC@LISTSERV.IEEE.ORG <mailto:EMC-PSTC@LISTSERV.IEEE.ORG>
*Subject:* Re: [PSES] Harmonised Standards for EMC Directive
2014/30/EU and Low Voltage Directive 2014/35/EU
Hi Charlie,
Please note that Annex I for both Directives lists the essential
requirements. Annex I makes no mention of declarations of conformity
(DOCs). Again, the article addressing DOCs in each directive has not
been identified with a delayed application. Also, there is no
essential requirement in the old directives that are contradicted in
the new directives. Hence, a product declared compliant to the new
directives is automatically compliant with the old soon-to-be-repealed
directives.
By the way, updates to the essential requirements are minor and
actually provide more information.
* EMC Directive 2014/30/EU Annex I reduces the description of fixed
installation requirements to the first sentence of what was in the
old Directive 2004/108/EC Annex I section 2: "A fixed
installation shall be installed applying good engineering
practices and respecting the information on the intended use of
its components, with a view to meeting the essential requirements
set out in point 1." The old Directive 2004/108/EC Annex I
section 2 also adds "Those good engineering practices shall be
documented and the documentation shall be held by the person(s)
responsible at the disposal of the relevant national authorities
for inspection purposes for as long as the fixed installation is
in operation." This is really not appropriate to be listed as an
EMC essential requirement. The new EMC Directive 2014/30/EU
correctly moves this statement to the last paragraph of Article 19
section 1 because Article 19 is a whole article discussing the
requirements unique to fixed installations. Please note that
other electrical equipment that are not fixed installations also
have records retention requirements, and those records retention
requirements were never listed in the essential requirements.
* Low Voltage Directive 2014/30/EU Annex I removes from the
essential requirements one requirement that was in the old
Directive 2006/95/EC Annex I section 1(c): "The brand name or the
trade mark should be clearly printed on the electrical equipment
or, where that is not possible, on the packaging." However, the
new Low Voltage Directive 2014/30/EU still addresses this
requirement but places this requirement in Article 6 section 6:
"Manufacturers shall indicate on the electrical equipment their
name, registered trade name or registered trade mark and the
postal address at which they can be contracted or, where that is
not possible, on its packaging or in a document accompanying the
electrical equipment."
Again, if you comply with the new directives of 2014, then you also
comply with the old soon-to-be-repealed directives.
Please provide an official European Union (EU) document that confirms
that "Declarations against these new Directives cannot be issued until
20 April 2016 as they have no legal standing until then."
Monrad
Note: All opinions written above are my own and are not necessarily
those of any company I work for.
On 3/23/2015 3:50 PM, Charlie Blackham wrote:
Monrad
These directives cannot be used at the moment – the relevant
detail is at the end of the quoted articles (with my bold text)
/2014/30/EU Article 46 /
*Entry into force and application *
This Directive shall enter into force on the twentieth day
following that of its publication in the /Official Journal of the
European Union/.EN 29.3.2014 Official Journal of the European
Union L 96/95
Article 1, Article 2, points (1) to (8) of Article 3(1), Article
3(2), Article 5(2) and (3), Article 6, Article 13, Article 19(3)
*and Annex I shall apply from 20 April 2016.*
//
2014/35/EU /Article 28 /
*Entry into force *
This Directive shall enter into force on the twentieth day
following that of its publication in the /Official Journal of the
European Union/.
Article 1, the second paragraph of Article 3, Article 5, Article
13(2) and (3) *and Annexes I, V and VI shall apply from 20 April
2016*.
Declarations against these new Directives cannot be issued until
20 April 2016 as they have no legal standing until then
Regards
Charlie
*From:*Monrad Monsen [mailto:monrad.mon...@oracle.com]
*Sent:* 23 March 2015 21:25
*To:* EMC-PSTC@LISTSERV.IEEE.ORG <mailto:EMC-PSTC@LISTSERV.IEEE.ORG>
*Subject:* Re: [PSES] Harmonised Standards for EMC Directive
2014/30/EU and Low Voltage Directive 2014/35/EU
Hi John,
Where is it written that "Directives aren't valid until ALL member
states have implemented them"?
*_ENTER INTO FORCE_*
I note that both the Low Voltage Directive and the EMC Directive
clearly states: "This directive *_shall_* enter into force on the
twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official
Journal of the European Union." (Emphasis on "shall" is mine.)
See the citations below:
* Article 45 of the EMC Directive 2014/30/EU that was published
in the Official Journal on 29 March 2014. Accordingly, the EMC
Directive 2014/30/EU entered into force on 18 April 2014.
Please also note that Article 45 does not list Article 15 (EU
declaration of conformity) as one of the articles that has a
delayed application.
* Article 28 of the Low Voltage Directive 2014/35/EU that was
published in the Official Journal on 29 March 2014.
Accordingly, the Low Voltage Directive 2014/35/EU entered into
force on 18 April 2014. Please also note that Article 28 does
not list Article 15 (EU declaration of conformity) as one of
the articles that has a delayed application.
As written, it appears that the new directives are entered into
force and can be used on declarations of conformity (DOCs).
*_REPEAL_*
Similarly, both directives state the older directives (2004/108/EC
and 2006/95/EC) are "repealed with effect from 20 April 2016,
without prejudice to the obligations of the Member States relating
to the time limits for transposition into national law and the
dates of application set out" in the new directives (2014/30/EU
and 2014/35/EU). As a result, any products that still relies on
the old directives for CE compliance may not be imported and sold
after 20 April 2016.
Fortunately, both new directives do state that any "references to
the repealed Directive shall be construed as references to this
[new] Directive and shall be read in accordance with the
correlation table given" in the new Directive. As a result, as
long as the product still complies with the new directive and just
has documentation making outdated references to the old directive.
So ... if you are correct that EU directives are "aren't valid
until ALL member states have implemented them", I would like to
know the official document that contradicts the EU directives
themselves.
Thanks.
Monrad
On 3/2/2015 12:50 PM, John Woodgate wrote:
In message <000f424e.486384b410ff5...@rpqconsulting.com>
<mailto:000f424e.486384b410ff5...@rpqconsulting.com>, dated
Mon, 2 Mar 2015, "Ron Pickard (RPQ)"
<rpick...@rpqconsulting.com>
<mailto:rpick...@rpqconsulting.com> writes:
As I believe as Mr. Woodgate pointed out earlier, these new
directives have no legal standing until at least one member
state enacts them into their own legal system. To my
knowledge, that hasn't happened yet. Anyone have any info on
this?
There has been a new ruling on this from the Commission. One
implementation is NOT ENOUGH: the Directives aren't valid
until ALL member states have implemented them.
I suppose this is because a member state could find a serious
objection to implementation, which would put everything back
in the melting pot.
-
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