· CE

CE(Conformité Européenne) certification is a regulatory standard that certifies certain products can be safely sold and used in the European Economic Area (EEA). Manufacturers put the CE mark on their certified products to show its compliance to European safety regulations which can be traded freely within the EEA.

It is also called a harmonized standard (European standard) developed by European Standards Organisations: CEN, CENELEC, or ETSI which were created by a request from the European Commission. Manufacturers, other economic operators, or conformity assessment bodies can use harmonized standards to demonstrate that their products, services, or processes comply with relevant EU legislation.

The references of harmonized standards must be published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) to be widely used as a reference.

Unlike other certification marks, the CE marking is not issued by a specific regulatory body, but may be subject to an independent conformity assessment by a Notified Body to ensure that certain products are qualified for the CE requirements and evaluation. Ultimately, manufacturers are responsible for the proper use of the CE marking and is only obligatory for those which EU specifications indicate and require the affixment of the mark.

· What does it mean?

Affixing the CE Mark indicates that the product or the manufacturer qualifies European Standards such as Safety, Health, Environment, Consumer Protection. In other words, fullfills all EC Regulations or Essential Requirements of Directives.

※CE marking serves as a trading passport in the European market, allowing manufacturers to freely distribute their certified products in the EEA countries. It replaces previous national regulations with a unified set of conformity and eliminates the need to adapt products to the specific requirements of each individual EEA member state. In short, CE marking connotes the meaning of compliance requirements for manufacturers' duty of sales and imports of products into the EU market.

Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Repubplic
Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece,
Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Repubplic of Ireland,
Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden (26 Countries)

EFTA

Norway, Liechtenstein,
Switzerland, Iceland

Overview

The rise in the production and use of electrical and electronic products, such as mobile phones, computers and kitchen appliances, has resulted in an increasing volume of electrical and electronic waste. During the use, collection, treatment and disposal of such waste, products may release harmful (hazardous) substances such as lead, mercury and cadmium, which can cause major environmental and health problems.

To address such challenges, EU laws restrict the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment through the RoHS Directive. In parallel, the WEEE Directive promotes the collection and recycling of such equipment.

The RoHS Directive currently restricts the use of ten substances: lead, cadmium, mercury, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyls (PBB) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE), bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), butyl benzyl phthalate (BBP), dibutyl phthalate (DBP) and diisobutyl phthalate (DIBP).

All products with an electrical and electronic component, unless specifically excluded, have to comply with these restrictions.

In 2017, the Commission adopted a legislative proposal adjusting the scope of the RoHS Directive.

The RoHS Directive aims to prevent the risks posed to human health and the environment related to the management of electronic and electrical waste.

It does this by restricting the use of certain hazardous substances in EEE that can be substituted by safer alternatives. These restricted substances include heavy metals, flame retardants or plasticizers.

The Directive promotes the recyclability of EEE, as EEE and its components that have become waste contain fewer hazardous substances. At the same time, it ensures a level playing field for manufacturers and importers of EEE in the European market.