Hello Jim, You are absolutely right.
You may add to the procedure a contract with your OEM that covers their obligation to fulfill the requirements for all products to be delivered in future. Your reps may want to do the same with you. Scenario: some opamp or digital port is sold out. Your OEM decides to replace by a close pin compatible. However , the EMC specs get fully different (this is not hypothetic) . Someone complains and your reps will get sued. Now who's responsible ? Your reps are, as they are importing your goods into the EU (from the point of the EU) If they do not have a good civil contract with you as manufacturer, and you do not have a similar contract with your OEM, a long juridical procedure may be waiting for you. CE-marking does not stop after type testing, but is an on-going process ! Regards, Ing. Gert Gremmen == CE-test, qualified testing, Consultancy, Compliance tests for EMC and Electrical Safety 15 Great EMC-design tips available ! Visit our site : http://www.cetest.nl The Dutch Electronics Directory http://www.cetest.nl/electronics.htm == -----Oorspronkelijk bericht----- Van: Jim Hulbert [SMTP:[email protected]] Verzonden: woensdag 4 februari 1998 19:56 Aan: [email protected] Onderwerp: Responsibility for DoC Here is the scenario: We prepare a product specification. We contract with an OEM to design and manufacture the product to our specifications. The manufactured product will be sold in Europe under our name by our sales representatives. Orders will be shipped directly to Europe from the OEM. The product is subject to the EMC Directive and the Low Voltage Directive. We do the EMC Directive testing (standards route to compliance), the OEM gets the safety approval. Question: Who is the responsible party for issuing the declaration of conformity with the EMC and Low Voltage Directives? I believe that we are the responsible party because we are still, in a legal sense, the manufacturer. As the EMC Directive guidelines state: "The manufacturer may subcontract certain operations, e.g. apparatus design or production, provided that he retains overall control and responsibility for the apparatus as a whole. By the same token, he may use ready-made items or components, CE marked or not, to produce the apparatus without losing his status as a manufacturer." We have the appropriate technical file to demonstrate that the product meets the requirements of the EMC Directive via the standards route and the OEM has a European safety agency approval which demonstrates compliance with the Low Voltage Directive. My position is that the OEM should be authorized by us to apply the CE marking to the product before shipping to Europe and we, as responsible party, should issue a declaration of conformity to be held by our representatives in Europe. Any expert opinions would be appreciated. ______________________________________________________________________ Jim Hulbert Tel: 203-924-3621 Senior Engineer - EMC Fax: 203-924-3352 Pitney Bowes email: [email protected] P.O. Box 3000 35 Waterview Drive Shelton, CT 06484-8000 U.S.A.
