SMEs baffled by product marking procedures

By Aleksander Nowacki

The obligation to comply with the CE (Conformitée Européen) marking system is a daunting prospect for some of the country's small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which are by and large unprepared.

CE marking is a uniform system, under which any product that may represent a potential hazard to its users is required to possess a specific mark to be allowed on the EU market. The mark is the manufacturer's declaration that the product meets the essential requirements of EU safety, health and environmental legislation. In some cases, the manufacturer's declaration must be accompanied by a statement from an accredited laboratory.

The CE marking system regulation will come into force on May 1, 2004, when the country is expected to enter the EU.

Yet businesses affected by it are not clear as to what the regulation actually entails.

"I am seriously worried," said Michał Pętlak, sales and marketing director at Erko, an electric tools manufacturer based in Jankowo, near Olsztyn. "And I am not alone. Other people in the sector have the same problem."

Pętlak's concern stems from the fact that the information available from government agencies is incomplete, inconsistent and mutually contradictory.

"If anyone says that they do not know (about CE markings), they have failed to do the simplest thing, which is read the actual regulations," said Wojciech Maj, director of the industrial policy department at the economy ministry. "Our businesses would like to have everyth done for them."

According to Maj, the compliance system is unfamiliar to local companies. Businesses, Maj said, expect lists of products requiring certification to be made for them, whereas no such lists are possible under the new approach, which defines the parameters of products that require certification, rather than naming the actual products.

But Pętlak insists that if he is still in the dark about the requirements, it is not from lack of trying on his part.

"I have been to several training courses," he said. "My conclusion is that it is a case of the deeper you go, the darker it gets."

Pętlak has contacted the economy ministry, the Association of Polish Electrical Engineers and a score of other institutions, yet he still does not know which of Erko's products will require an independent laboratory evaluation to qualify for CE. For some products, the procedure can be carried out within the company. Until further secondary legislation is passed, however, Pętlak said, it is impossible to decide what the right procedure for a given product is.

Too many documents

According to Maj, part of the problem is that the CE standards and procedures are not set out in a single directive. There is a large number of documents with some overlapping and occasional inconsistencies. They apply to an extremely wide range of products. From toys to machinery to explosives for civilian use - any product that could be in some way hazardous has to comply with the regulations. In some cases, internal control procedures are sufficient for the products to qualify for the mark, while in others it is necessary to refer to an accredited laboratory.

"No list of competent institutions exists," Pętlak complained. "We do not know who we should be talking to."

He went on to say that many smaller enterprises may not have the resources necessary to follow the regulations by themselves, without any assistance from the authorities, or to implement the correct procedures. "Some companies will simply go out of business."

This sentiment is echoed by Łukasz Rycharski, the director of the Regional Center for European Information.

"Now is the last call to start thinking (about compliance with CE marking)," he said. "If the need to comply with the new system is not realized now, soon it will be too late." According to Rycharski, whole sectors of the economy may experience serious difficulties due to inadequate information on the procedures. That is why he has cowritten a free Polish-language portal devoted specifically to the issue.

A relaxed view

But some businesses seem to be taking a much more relaxed view of the situation.

"We have not done anything to address the issue of compliance (to the CE marking system)," said Jan Rutkowski, owner of TechWind, a Gdańsk-based crane producer.

He is, however, convinced that no haste is required, as the company has all the certifications required by national law. He said that once EU regulations come into force, TechWind will simply get a new kind of certificate from the Office of Technical Inspection (URT), with which it has cooperated for years. Nor is he concerned about increased costs of safety control procedures, saying that he expects them to fall in the wake of accession.

Wojciech Maj of the economy ministry agrees, pointing out that companies would be able to refer to competent laboratories abroad, should local institutions charge excessive amounts for control procedures. Competition between controllers should result in lower prices, he said.

"It is a myth that SMEs will struggle to comply," Maj said. "In practice, nothing will change for them."

Maj added that the new system is much more elastic than the regulations in force at present. Under the new approach, he said, it would be possible for most companies to simply declare their products in compliance with the requirements and carry on regardless.

"If the product proves a hazard to its users, it would be disallowed under the current rules anyway," Maj said. He suggested that there was a lot of scare-mongering going on in connection with the CE marking system.

Marek Walczak, director of certification and international cooperation at the URT, also agrees.

"I am not keen on conspiracy theories, but sometimes I ask myself in whose interest it is to misrepresent the situation," he said. Unlike Maj, however, he is concerned that SMEs may struggle to comply with the regulations.

"It is a very good system for larger companies," Walczak added. "But smaller businesses may find it costly." He stressed, however, that companies in need of complying with the CE requirements face strict certification procedures already.

Rycharski, however, remains skeptical.

"If anyone thinks that an entrepreneur can wake up on the morning of May 1 next year and simply slap on a sticker with CE printed on it, they are in for a rude awakening," he said.