Conformance: Declarations of Conformity    

Declarations of Conformity 

Apart from the CE logo, the Declaration of Conformity is one of the few common 
threads throughout all the CE marking directives. 

Basically it's a piece of paper which someone has to sign to say that the
 machine, apparatus, device (etc.) meets the requirements of the Directive. The
 idea is that making someone sign a declaration to this effect concentrates the
 mind on exactly whether or not the product really does comply. It's also a
 requirement that the Declaration be signed by someone who has the power to make
 binding commitments on behalf of the manufacturer so, in theory at least, such 
a person should be fully aware of the gravity of signing any piece of paper
 fraudulently. Hence the effect of the Declaration is to identify an individual
 in the company who can be held responsible if the CE marking on a product turns
 out to be invalid. 

When considering the relationship between manufacturers based outside the EU and 
their EU distributors, the matter of who signs the Declaration has been the
 subject of considerable debate. Some authorities hold that the Declaration
 should be signed by the manufacturer but must be held on EU soil by the
 importer, whereas others say that the signature should be that of the importer. 

We have discussed exactly this topic with UK trading standards officers in order 
to be clear on the point. Notwithstanding anything which is contained in any of 
the directives or regulations, what they are looking for is a piece of paper, 
signed by someone who is within their legal reach, which says words to the 
effect of "I hereby declare the product to be safe, come and get ME if it
 isn't". This is sometimes known as the 'warm body' principle! On the basis of
 this, we are convinced that if the product is made outside the EU, the ONLY
 signature which really matters is that of the EU importer.

As a further complication, be under no illusions that the requirements of the
 different regulations are consistent as regards the contents of the declaration
 of conformity - they are not. Except where (as, for example, in the case of the
 UK Medical Devices Regulations) the implementing regulations of the member 
states simply call up the wording of the relevant EC text, the requirements of 
the CE marking Directives are defined by the wording of the relevant statutory
 instrument in the member states, NOT the wording of the directive itself, which
 cannot be enforced in any national court in the EU.

Having said this, in the main, the Declaration of Conformity for the Machinery, 
Low Voltage and Electromagnetic Compatibility Directives are very similar and it 
is common to combine the declarations for these directives into one document. We 
have compiled a document based on the UK Regulations which gives the wording of 
the relevant sections of the UK statutory instruments. This document also 
includes an example Declaration of Conformity, and is available for download in 
Acrobat PDF format. 

Note that this file does NOT cover the requirements for a declaration inclding 
the noise information required by Directive 2000/14/EC, although this is only 
relevant to the relatively small number of items covered by this directive 
(primarily engine driven machinery and plant for use outdoors).

Click here to download the document.


Last updated: 18 November, 2002 

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