Hello Monrad - On the issue of [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 suggest that BMT (that's Brussels Mean Time) be used as the DoC clock from anywhere in the world!
Best Regards Charles Grasso Compliance Engineer Echostar Communications (w) 303-706-5467 (c) 303-204-2974 (t) [email protected] (e) [email protected] (e2) [email protected] From: Monrad Monsen [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Tuesday, March 24, 2015 9:35 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [PSES] Harmonised Standards for EMC Directive 2014/30/EU and Low Voltage Directive 2014/35/EU 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 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 2nd 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:[email protected]] Sent: 23 March 2015 22:31 To: Charlie Blackham Cc: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> 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:[email protected]] Sent: 23 March 2015 21:25 To: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> 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 <[email protected]><mailto:[email protected]>, dated Mon, 2 Mar 2015, "Ron Pickard (RPQ)" <[email protected]><mailto:[email protected]> 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. - ---------------------------------------------------------------- This message is from the IEEE Product Safety Engineering Society emc-pstc discussion list. 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