1) Is the CE mark genuine?
2) If it is you're still liable?
For the second item, presumably if you do get sued the fact that the product has been officially tested and approved must go some way towards a legal defence? I mean, if the experts get it wrong how are we supposed to judge if it's safe or not...?
Also, were you implying that CE testing could take place in China, and that it wouldn't be as good as EU testing?
EVERYTHING depends on what sort of product you are talking about.
But let's go through your questions -
1. The only time a CE Declaration of Conformity can be false or genuine, is if your product falls into one of the categories requiring testing by a so-called 'notified body' who have been granted accreditation for its testing laboratories as well as for its certification activities and was notified for the Single Market of the European Union and will have an EU identification number.
2. You are always liable if you are the manufacturer or importer.
3. If the experts get it wrong, then you can sue them - but you are still liable to the customer.
4. Testing in China, or anywhere else, including the UK, is meaningless, unless completed by an EC registered and approved laboratory and is only required for some products.
The CE mark is not a certificate or even a statement that such a certificate exists, but a declaration by the manufacturer or importer (i.e. YOU!) that the product complies with all EU directives on safety and other matters.
The basis for the CE mark is either just a declaration of conformity, or certification of conformity for those products that require testing by an EC registered notified body, together with a declaration of conformity by you.
The commission itself gives copious amounts of advice on what types of equipment require what type of declaration and/or testing and certification.
http://ec.europa.eu/growth/single-market/ce-marking/index_en.htm
A Chinese CE mark is nearly always 128.7% useless, unless that laboratory used for those tests is a notified body registered with the Commission and is therefore able to issue a
certificate of compliance (and not just a declaration of compliance - only YOU can do that!) I am not aware of any Chinese labs thus registered, though there may indeed be some. I have only ever used VDE and TÜV-Rheinland, both of whom have labs in China.
Simple electronic devices (i.e. devices using between 50V and 1,000V AC and not representing a safety hazard or emitting electromagnetic radiation) usually just require a Class-A , i.e. just a declaration of compliance by you. They fall under 'Low Voltage Devices' and include loudspeakers, microphones, amplifiers, but do not include tuners, mobile phones, TV sets, steam irons).
You can find various types of declarations at the back of some handbooks. Here is a flow-chart of how the whole thing hangs together from the Verband der Elektrotechnik, Elektronik und Informationstechnik (VDE)
https://www.vde.com/en/SiteCollectionDocuments/MCMS/VDE_PI/PDFs/PM92e.pdf
Here's a typical example -
EC Declaration of Conformity
Manufacturer’s Name
and Address:
Product: Widget
Type designation: Woggler
The designated product is in conformity with the European Directive 73/23/EEC amended by Directive 93/68/EEC and including all other amendments
"Council Directive on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to low voltage devices".
Signed and dated.
