CE marking means European Conformity and it is the evidence provided by the manufacturer that the product meets the minimum legal and technical requirements in terms of safety in the European Union.
On 1st July 2013, the new regulation (UE) N° 305/2011 of the European Parliament and the European Council of 9 March 2011 entered into force. There, the harmonized conditions for the marketing of construction products are set out and the Council's Directive 89/106/CEE is repealed. Such Regulation provides common technical basis to evaluate the performance of construction products and guarantees the availability of reliable information for professionals, public authorities and consumers, allowing them to compare products from different manufacturers and countries. Therefore, CE marking gives an added value, in other words, manufacturers and distributors can market their products in any EU country ensuring that the performances of their products are those declared and they are supported by the document, standard or specification suitable in each case.
CE marking: compulsory or optional?
The compliance with the existing legislation is made compulsory by the company. However, the large number of existing laws for the different markets causes that in some cases the company may not be aware of all the responsibilities and may incur in non-compliance with the laws. This fact may have relevant implications, from penalties to ceasing operation of business extreme cases.
This article appeared in the September-October issue of Reinforced Plastics.
