The Machinery Regulation lays down health and safety requirements for machinery, as well as partially completed machinery. As the definition of machinery includes products with moving parts, the regulation is also relevant for consumer products such as e-bikes or trademills.

In this guide, we explain what importers and manufacturers should know about the Machinery Regulation, including documentation, CE marking, labelling, and testing requirements.
Continue reading Machinery Regulation: An Essential Guide

Practically all consumer products sold in the European Union are subject to regulations governing the use of heavy metals, chemicals, and other substances. Specific bans and restrictions on substances like lead and phthalates apply to essentially all consumer products – including textiles, childcare items, toys, cosmetics, and kitchenware.

Despite bans and restrictions, some products sold in the EU continue to contain high concentrations of restricted chemicals.

In this article, we list some of the most important EU regulations that cover substances in consumer products. We also explain how you can check if a product contains regulated or prohibited substances.
Continue reading Chemical Regulations in the European Union: An Overview

Magnets and products that contain magnets are potential safety hazards. As such, ensuring compliance with applicable safety standards, substance restrictions, and warning labelling requirements is essential.

Products that contain small magnets might be particularly dangerous. For example, there have been cases of children who swallowed magnets and required urgent surgery.

In this guide, we cover requirements for magnets such as those listed in the REACH Regulation, the Toy Safety Directive, EN 71-1 and the General Product Safety Regulation.
Continue reading Magnet Safety Standards & Regulations in the European Union: An Overview

The REACH Regulation and RoHS Directive restrict the usage of various substances. There is also some overlap in terms of the substances covered by RoHS and REACH, which can create some confusion. However, they differ in terms of product scope, substance restrictions, and labelling requirements.

In this guide, we explain and summarise what some of those differences are. We also include examples of restricted substances for both regulation, and the respective limits.
Continue reading What is the difference between REACH and RoHS?