LED Lighting Regulations in the European Union: An Overview

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LED Lighting Safety Standards in the EU

Companies importing and manufacturing LED lighting products for the EU market must ensure compliance with various regulations and directives. These, in turn, set requirements concerning electrical safety, energy efficiency, labelling, documentation,  and lab testing.

This guide explains how different directives and regulations are relevant to LED lighting products, including the Low Voltage Directive, Ecodesign Directive, the Energy Labelling Framework Regulation, and the RoHS Directive.
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Language Requirements When Selling Products in the EU

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Language Requirements When Selling Products in the EU
Products sold in the European Union must often be labelled and come with documentation written in the language or languages required by the EU member states where these are sold. This can be challenging, as it forces companies selling in the EU to translate everything from warning texts to user instructions into multiple languages to stay compliant.

In this guide, we take a closer look at language requirements for products sold in the European Union – with a particular focus on the General Product Safety Regulation.
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What is the EU Digital Product Passport?

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EU Digital Product Passport
The Digital Product Passport is intended to replace the Declaration of Conformity for at least a number of product categories in the coming years. In this guide, we explain what the Digital Product Passport is, what to include, and how to obtain one – with Article 17 of the Toy Safety Regulation draft as our source.

However, keep in mind that this regulation is not final, and only relevant for toys. The exact requirements and processes will likely differ for other products.
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Market Surveillance Regulation: An Essential Guide

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Market Surveillance Regulation
The Market Surveillance Regulation aims at ensuring that products sold to consumers are safe and prevents general non-compliance.

For some categories of products, toys and electronics for example, it sets certain tasks that must be performed by manufacturers – or their authorised representative, in the case of non-EU manufacturers that sell to consumers in the EU, – and other economic operators.

In this guide, we explain what the requirements of the Market Surveillance Regulation are, what products it covers, and elaborate on its impact on manufacturers, importers, and other economic operators from both EU and non-EU countries. This includes businesses based in the United Kingdom.
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CE Marking Requirements for Amazon Sellers: A Complete Guide

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Selling electronics, toys, PPE, and medical devices on Amazon in the European Union requires that your products are correctly CE marked – or you face the risk of immediate and permanent product removal.

In this guide, we explain what Amazon sellers must know about CE marking, and why it also affects companies located in the UK, US and China – that are selling certain product types on Amazon in the EU.

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EU Medical Device Classes Guide – Class I, IIa, IIb, and III

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EU Medical Device Classes Guide - I, IIa, IIb, and IIIThe Medical Devices Regulation sets requirements according to device class. More specifically, medical devices are defined as class I, IIa, IIb, or III. In turn, this determines certain requirements, and which conformity assessment procedure the manufacturer must follow.

In this guide, we present the different classes for medical devices, explain how medical devices must be classified, delve into the classification rules, and explore the implications of each classification.

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Medical Devices Regulation: An Essential Guide

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Medical Devices Regulation: An Essential Guide
The Medical Devices Regulation (MDR) regulates medical devices and their accessories manufactured or imported for the European Union market.

This guide provides examples of products covered by the Medical Devices Regulation, explains which medical devices require a notified body, and elaborates on various requirements for such products including documentation, labelling, and testing.
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List of EN 71 Lab Testing Companies: An Overview

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EN 71 Lab Testing Companies

Importers and manufacturers must ensure that products covered by the Toy Safety Directive comply with EN 71 standards, which are harmonised under the Directive. EN 71 standards cover requirements related to substances, mechanical properties, flammability, and more.

Compliance usually necessitates testing. If the product passes testing, your chosen testing company issues a test report specifying your product’s compliance with the relevant requirements. In this guide, we list several testing companies that offer services related to EN 71.

Methodology

For this guide, we have selected several companies that claim to offer EN 71 testing and related services. We have also prioritised companies that have testing facilities in both the EU and Asia.

Related articles

a. EN 71 Toy Safety Lab Testing: A Complete Guide

b. List of Products Covered by the Toy Safety Directive and EN 71

c. Toy Safety Directive: An Essential Guide for Importers and Manufacturers

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Products covered by the Medical Devices Regulation: An Overview

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Products covered by the Medical Devices Regulation: An Overview

The Medical Devices Regulation covers both products that have a medical purpose, and products without an intended medical purpose – for example coloured non-corrective contact lenses. Additionally, medical devices are divided into different classes, according the risk level. Hence, the requirements vary depending on the class of the device.

It is therefore important to understand if your product is covered by the Medical Devices Regulation and, if so, under which class it belongs.

In this guide, we list examples of products covered by regulation, ordering them by type (e.g. invasive devices), and class (e.g. Class I).

Product List Creation Methodology

1. The product examples listed in this guide are taken from section “4.2 General explanation of rules/practical issues/examples” of the “Guidance on classification of medical devices” that is available on this Guidance page.

a. The product categories listed in this guide (e.g. Non-invasive devices) are taken from the headlines and sub-headlines available in section 4.2.

b. The product examples (e.g. wheelchair) are taken from the tables available in section 4.2.

c. We have sorted the products by class of medical devices (I, IIa, IIb, III), according to the information that is provided in the tables available in section 4.2.

2. The last section of this guide (Groups of products without an intended medical purpose) is an exception.

In this case, we have taken the product examples (e.g. Short-term use coloured non-corrective contact lenses) from section “4 Classification” of the “Guidance on qualification and classification of Annex XVI products – A guide for manufacturers and notified bodies” that is available on the Guidance page linked above.In

this case, the products are sorted by class, according to the information available in section 4 of the document.

3. Note that the list below is not exhaustive and only provides examples. You can consult the guidance documents for more information.
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List of REACH Lab Testing Companies: An Overview

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REACH Lab Testing Companies

The REACH regulation sets restrictions on heavy metals and chemicals in consumer products and mixtures. Third-party lab testing is often the only way to verify if a certain product or material is compliant.

In this guide, we list leading companies with testing facilities in the EU and elsewhere that provide testing services corresponding to substances restricted under the REACH regulation.

Methodology

We have selected testing companies that claim on their websites to offer REACH testing and related services. Additionally, we listed companies that have testing facilities in the European Union and Asia.

Related articles

a. An Essential Guide to the REACH Regulation in the EU

b. REACH Product Lab Testing: A Complete Guide

c. List of REACH Consulting Companies: Our 9 Top Picks
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