Product Compliance ForEuropean Importers:A Beginners Guide

Planning to import and sell products in the European Union? Then you need to ensure that your products are fully compliant with all mandatory safety standards, chemicals regulations, labelling, and documentation requirements by testing them in certified laboratories.

In this article, Fredrik Gronvkist explains what you must know about REACH, CE marking, food contact materials regulations, and furniture fire safety standards.

Reach

REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation, and Restriction of Chemicals) is an EU regulation that restricts and limits the usage of chemicals, heavy metals, and pollutants in all products.

Here are a few examples:

Lead

Cadmium

Mercury

Formaldehyde

Phthalates

A product cannot legally be imported and sold If a textile, plastic or metal product contains amounts above the legal limit. The only way to find out is by submitting material samples to a compliance testing company, such as SGS or Intertek, and book a lab test.

The good thing with REACH, from an importers point of view, is that you don’t need to keep track of every single chemical or heavy metal the test should include. Instead, the testing company only need to know that you need a REACH test and they do the rest.

Further, lab testing is not mandatory but strongly recommended.

Product Examples:

Clothing and textiles

Jewellery and accessories

Plastic products

Metal products

Watches

Furniture

Bags

CE Marking

CE marking is the big one in the European Union. You probably see it every day, be it on your phone charger, laptop or the latest toy you bought for your children.

CE itself is not a safety standard, but a compliance mark signalling that the product is compliant with all mandatory EU directives applicable to that specific product.

Here are some examples of products covered by CE.

Product Examples:

Toy Safety Directive EN 71: Toys

Low Voltage Directive, EMC Directive, RoHS Directive: Electronics

Machinery Directive. Machines

PPE Directive: Sunglasses and other eyewear, work gloves, helmets

CE Compliance process

Ensuring that your product is CE compliant takes a lot more than printing a CE mark somewhere. Here are the steps you need to take prior to importing a product that must be CE marked:

Confirm applicable CE directive for your product

Carefully assess the directive requirements to assess if you need to implement design changes

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About the author •
Fredrik Gronvkist

Fredrik Gronkvist is a Swedish Entrepreneur and co-founder of Asiaimportal (HK) Limited, based in Hong Kong. Since 2011, he has helped companies in the EU, the US and the Asia Pacific with product development, compliance, and manufacturing in China, Vietnam and India.