Regulatory Support for import of Electronics into UK

[GirirajD]

Hi all,

I am in a process of importing some electronics from China and need some advise / views on how best to manage the Regulatory Compliance.

Although the products are fairly simple, such as power banks, car chargers, etc., I'd like to have inputs on the following:

1. Is it wise to engage a consultant (which is costing quite a bit) to compile documents such as the Product Information File (PIF) and Declaration of Conformity (DOC) in the run to secure CE Marking? If yes, is it possible for you to share some consultants' names?

2. At what stage - if I engage a consultant now - should I consider shifting from consultant to self-declaration / maintenance of documents?

3. Any idea how frequently are these documents checked by the regulatory authorities?

Thanks in advance!

Regards,
Giriraj D

 

[MOIC]

1. You don't need a consultant. You need the supplier to offer the certificates they have AND an independent 3rd party to ensure & verify the certificates are correct and apply to the batch of products you are actually buying.

2. Never, if it involves power banks (as well as other potentially dangerous items).

3. You should do the above for safety reasons and to give yourself (and your customers) peace of mind that your products are safe, not to satisfy the regulatory authorities. (If thats the reason for asking this question)

Power banks, although a simple product, can be VERY dangerous, if the batteries have not been tested, are not Grade A, have not been 'aged tested' do not have fireproof casings . . . . . .the list is huge!

We supply high street brands with technology products (including power banks) and the factories used are fully compliant and have the correct testing machinery as well as QC processes in place. Testing on these products must be rigorous.

 

[Mr D]

Make very sure your insurance is good enough. House fire caused by bad electronics can get expensive and you have liability.

 

[V Narayan]

do we need a separate insurance to hold goods in our office if the goods are smaller?

 

[V Narayan]

Also - do we need to declare to our existing house insurance about using house as office too?

 

[Scalloway]

Household insurance policies generally allow you to do admin work from home.

 

[Mr D]

do we need a separate insurance to hold goods in our office if the goods are smaller?

Your home insurance usually won't cover business stuff. Your business insurance should be able to cover it wherever you store it if you tell the insurer.

 

[MOIC]

Has this thread been hijacked?

 

[CHUKTC]

You are right to be concerned about regulatory compliance. This is however relatively straight forward and as other contributors have stated most of this can be done in China and far more cheaply than in the UK. There are a few things you should consider:
1. Make sure the goods have the required certification BEFORE you place an order.
2. Ask to see copies of the certification. Check they are relevant and apply to the goods you are buying, check that all the required certificates for that particular product are present (often they are not) and finally check you are satisfied the certification is genuine - sadly there is an awful lot of face certification in China.
If you need any help with this let me know - we deal a lot with these sorts of products and are familiar with the requirements. As previously mentioned some, like power banks and batteries are particularly onerous.

 

[GirirajD]

Thank you all for your inputs. I had kept this project on back burner until I had all the information.

So as I understand (please correct me if I am wrong), if the manufacturer in China supplies all information, it will be sufficient for placement of CE mark (subject to a third party assessment for safety), am I right?

If yes, it saves me a great deal of cost because, for the following scope of work, I have received a quote of €9500 for the following scope of work:

• Testing of one model battery pack according to standard IEC 62133-2:2017
  
• EMC testing on single model according to standards EN 55032:2015 and EN 55035:2017
• EMC Certification procedure for a family of products
• CB Certification procedure for a family of products according to standard IEC 62133-2:2017 (optional - additional fees €8500)

I have been very sceptical about this proposal as looking at the market, I see every small thing marked as CE complied and yet if companies invest this kind of money, commerce here will be heavily capital intensive!

 

[CHUKTC]

Yes that is correct provide they provide all the required information and provided they are genuine and not counterfeit. Generally the cost for getting an item CE marked in China in our experience is around 10 - 20% of the cost in the UK.