Published on: 12 July 2021
Selling CE marked products into the EU – New rules come into force on 16 July
We want to ensure that all UK exporters to the EU are aware that the EU Regulation on Market Surveillance and Compliance of Products (2019/1020) will be coming into force on 16 July 2021.
Upon leaving the EU Great Britain became a third country outside of the EU single market, therefore for exports into the EU each regulation and directive has specific legal requirements which are placed upon the importers of those Conformité Européenne (CE) products into the EU, whether they are private (consumers) or commercial.
For example within the Recreational Craft Directive (RCD), 2013/53/EU those requirements include:
Provision should therefore be made for importers to make sure that the products they place on the market comply with the applicable requirements and that they do not place on the market products which do not comply with such requirements or which present a risk.
For the same reason, provision should also be made for importers to make sure that conformity assessment procedures have been carried out and that the CE marking and documentation drawn up by manufacturers are available for inspection by the supervisory authorities.
EU Regulation on Market Surveillance and Compliance of Products (2019/1020) places new requirements for businesses to enable better traceability of products, particularly those sold online.
Article 4 of the regulation requires that for certain products to be placed on the EU (or NI) market, an economic operator responsible for compliance must be established in the EU (or NI – Northern Ireland) to fulfil certain compliance tasks. The responsible economic operator can be any one of a manufacturer, importer, authorised representative, or a fulfilment service provider but in all cases must be established in the EU.
The name, registered trade name or registered trademark, and contact details (including the postal address) of the responsible economic operator must be indicated on the product or on its packaging, the parcel or an accompanying document.
The economic operator responsible for compliance must:
- Keep documentation: Verify that the EU declaration of conformity or declaration of performance and technical documentation have been drawn up, keep the declaration of conformity or declaration of performance at the disposal of Market Surveillance Authorities for the period required by that legislation (usually 10 years unless specified otherwise) and ensure that the technical documentation can be made available to those Authorities upon request.
- Provide documentation: If a reasoned request is made by a Market Surveillance Authority, provide them with all information and documentation necessary to demonstrate the conformity of the product.
- Notify risk: If there is reason to believe a product presents a risk, inform the Market Surveillance Authority.
- Co-operate: Collaborate with Market Surveillance Authorities, including requests to take appropriate corrective action. If that is not possible, the responsible economic operator must mitigate the risks presented by the product when they believe the product presents a risk or are requested to do so by the Market Surveillance Authorities.
Read here for further guidance on how Article 4 applies to UK businesses on the UK government website. The European Commission has also published guidance on the practical implementation of Article 4 in the EU which can be reviewed here.
British Marine would ask that all exporters study the requirements within 2019/1020 either through the use of the government guidance or the regulation available here: EUR-Lex – 32019R1020 – EN – EUR-Lex and ensure that they are in a position to meet the requirements.