On 2006-11-20 08:38:41 +0000, AJH said:

On Sun, 19 Nov 2006 22:47:26 +0000, John Beardmore
wrote:

In what respect was CE a scam ?

In the respect it's a declaration that the maker says it conforms to a
set of standards, not like the kitemark where it was submitted to
independent testing prior to being able to display it.

AJH

Always assuming that there *is* a set of relevant standards.

Otherwise, the manufacturer can quite legitimately declare CE based on
some of the components.

There are a few classes of product, such as certain machine tools,
where the manufacturer is *required* to have certification from an
independent test house. However, for the most part, manufacturers and
importers are not required to do that - they can simply keep records
of their own tests if any.

Added to this, the teeth behind it are pathetic. In the UK, Trading
Standards are responsible for policing and bringing prosecutions in
respect of CE labelling. Very few have been brought and the penalty
is max. a £5000 fine or in extreme cases a 6 month holiday at one of
E2R's residences.
The risk is very low and even if caught, £5k can come out of the pencil budget.

In short, plenty of scope for the less than honest to abuse a system.