Brian, While I'm sure that there are many companies out there which are simply "applying" the CE mark, rest assured that some countries are indeed checking. We have recently encountered two incidents in which products were stopped at the border (FRANCE) before we provided adequate proof of CE mark compliance. Additionally, many customers in the EC are conscious of the importance of the CE mark and have specifically refused (in SPAIN) to accept shipment of product until marked. This latter case was during the transition period of compliance prior to 12/31/95.
In all cases, we were able to continue our shipments after providing documented evidence of compliance, e.g., parts of the technical file, declaration of conformity, etc. In yet another case, one customer (in GERMANY) actually subjected one of our products to safety tests prior to their purchase in order to prove compliance. There was simply no basis for this since our company has never had any compliance related problems. The customer simply wanted a second independent assessment. These incidents appear to be increasing in frequency so the risk is increasing. Regardless of all this, it is simply good practice for any business to be in compliance with all safety and EMC requirements. It makes for a safer and more robust product. Good engineering up front will reduce, if not eliminate, most of the cost for compliance. I'll now get of the soapbox. Good Luck, Andy Garcia Lead EMC/Safety Engineer Coulter Corporation ---------- > From: Brian Kunde <brian_ku...@leco.com> > To: emc-p...@mail.ieee.org > Subject: Penalty for Non-Compliance > Date: Friday, February 21, 1997 1:07 PM > > I hear a very disturbing subject being openly discussed among several > of my European contacts. Distributors in Europe are saying that the > CE marking is a joke. That many companies (European Companies are > mentioned most often) are simply applying the CE marking to their > products without testing. Some say that many companies were initially > forced to do this because of the time and cost of testing and > redesign, but since there is very little checking going on the risk is > "Cost Effective". > > IS THIS TRUE? > > Has anyone heard of specific situations where a company or person has > been fined or jailed for fraudulently placing the CE marking on > non-compliant equipment? What is the penalty for non-compliance? What > is the penalty for fraud? Is anyone checking? Is anyone getting in > trouble? > > I have been asked to obtain strong evidence to counter this opinion. > More or less to "put the fear of God" into distributors and reassure > our marketing and sales force that delaying product to market for the > CE mark is the right thing to do. > > Can you help? Please post or email me anything you can. > > Thanks, > > Brian Kunde > brian_ku...@leco.com >
