CE marking and the EU declaration of conformity explained

CE marking is not a quality label and no authority issues it. By affixing it, the manufacturer declares that the product meets all EU requirements that apply to it and takes responsibility for that, as the European Commission explains. The general rules for the mark come from Regulation (EC) No 765/2008 and the New Legislative Framework, described in the Commission's Blue Guide).

The mark must be visible, legible and at least 5 mm high, on the product or, where that is not possible, on the packaging and accompanying documents. If a notified body took part in the assessment, its four-digit identification number follows the mark. A product outside the scope of every CE act must not carry the mark at all.

A product needs CE marking when at least one EU act that requires it applies. Your Europe names toys, drones, electrical and electronic equipment, pyrotechnics, recreational craft, certain pressure equipment, gas appliances, batteries, machinery, measuring instruments, personal protective equipment and medical devices. Common acts for webshop products:

The manufacturer, or a brand that sells under its own name, carries out the conformity assessment, involves a notified body where the act requires one, compiles the technical documentation, signs the declaration and affixes the mark. The Commission's steps for manufacturers list these in order.

Under the reference provisions in Decision No 768/2008/EC, which most CE acts copy, an importer checks that the assessment was done, that the mark and the required documents are present, and keeps a copy of the declaration available for the authorities. A distributor, which includes a webshop or marketplace seller that buys from a supplier, checks that the product bears the mark and comes with the required documents and instructions in the right language before selling it.

The EU declaration of conformity follows the model structure in Annex III of Decision No 768/2008/EC; each CE act repeats it in its own annex, for example Annex IV of the Low Voltage Directive. The model asks for this content:

When several CE acts apply to one product, the manufacturer draws up a single declaration that names all of them. The declaration must be translated into the language or languages the Member State where the product is sold requires. Your Europe adds that the declaration and the technical documentation are kept for at least 10 years after the product is placed on the market, and are reviewed when the product, the legislation or the contact details change.

This page lists the content the EU model asks for so you know which data to keep. It is not a template to sign: the manufacturer writes the declaration for its own product under the act that applies, and some acts, such as the one for medical devices, set extra content.

A merchant does not write declarations for products it buys in, but it does need to find the right one per product and variant, show it to a marketplace or authority on request and notice when it is out of date. These fields make that possible:

Marketplaces ask for CE documents in their product safety forms. Kaufland, for example, has a ce_certificate attribute for a certificate or declaration as a PDF or image, next to its GPSR fields. CE-marked products also still need the GPSR listing information: manufacturer, responsible person, identification and warnings.

Packaging is a separate obligation with its own registration numbers per country; see the EPR packaging guide. Some product groups will also need a digital product passport once their rules are adopted.