The General Assembly for CECIP took place on 3rd June, in Bratislava. This was a useful and interesting meeting that discussed a wide range of legislation that will eventually influence us all.
The main areas of discussion included looking at the possible changes to European Guidance on Notified Bodies (The Blue Guide). This will have a bearing on the processes that the bodies that issue the approval for self-verification operate to.

There was considerable discussion on producing a guide for carrying out market surveillance checks to be produced by CECIP. It is hoped that this would be used in conjunction with the market surveillance guides produced by WELMEC, but it was felt that it could equally be used by manufacturers and importers to assist in their obligations under market surveillance.

A further item of discussion related to the different laws in each member state with regard to re-verification. Manufacturers and other businesses cannot carry out re-verification in all member states; in some countries it is only the authorities that can do this. All countries completed a questionnaire that it is intended would act as the basis of a database for different re-verification laws in each country. This would provide useful information for exporters to those countries, and would also enable the businesses in those countries to lobby their national governments to change the national legislation.

An interesting presentation from the new Director of the OIML showed a clear enthusiasm to pursue the scope of mutual acceptance arrangements (MAA’s) with other countries. This would enable the results of type approval testing done in Europe to be accepted in other areas of the World without undergoing complete re-evaluation. It was felt that this would be particularly beneficial for businesses attempting to export to those markets, for example the USA.

Ian Turner
Technical Officer