CE logo - Definition

The CE mark is a declaration on manufactured products sold in the European Union (EU) that the item meets all the requirements of relevant EU directives. For example, the EU Directive concerning Liability for Defective Products makes EU importers liable for the products they import, including the machinery they provide to their employees for work.

Officially, CE has no meaning as an abbreviation [1] (http://www.conformance.co.uk/ce_logo.html) but may have originally stood for Communauté Européenne or Conformité Européne.

It is mandatory that all regulated products carry such a mark. To permit the use of a CE mark on a product, proof that the item meets the relevant requirements must be documented. Sometimes this is achieved using an external test house which evaluates the product and its documentation. Often it is achieved by a company-internal self certification process. The directives and mark are also valid in the non-EU nations Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland.

See also

• International Organization for Standardization (ISO)
• International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC)
• Underwriters Laboratories (UL)—A United States equivalent of the CE mark

References and further reading

• European Organization for Testing and Certification (http://www.eotc.be)