China → Europe
Sellable comes before sold.
Before a European buyer can place your product on the market, somebody in Europe has to be answerable for it, and a file has to exist behind the marking. We help Chinese manufacturers build both — in the order that stops the deal from stalling.
The question is never « is it certified »
European compliance is often presented to Chinese exporters as a certificate to obtain. It is not. For most product families there is no certificate to buy: there is a declaration that somebody signs, a file that stands behind it, and a named company inside the European Union that answers if anything goes wrong. The marking is the last step, not the first.
That is why the same conversation happens every time. A European buyer asks for « the CE certificate ». What they actually need is the declaration of conformity in their own language, the harmonised standards it cites, and the assurance that the technical file can be produced if an authority asks. Sending a test report instead is the most common reason a first order stops moving.
Four things have to exist, and they are not the same thing
- A responsible economic operator in the EU. Depending on the product and how it is sold, that is an importer, an authorised representative, a responsible person or a fulfilment service provider — and it is often not the same company for each role.
- A technical file. Held for a defined period, producible on request, and containing the reasoning — not only the results.
- A declaration somebody signs. With a name, a function and a date on it. A declaration nobody will sign is not a document problem; it is a sign that a question upstream is still open.
- What the product carries and says. Markings, warnings, the manual, the languages it has to be read in, and the environmental registrations the country of sale expects.
Country by country, after the European layer
European rules set the floor. Several countries then add registrations of their own before a first sale is lawful — packaging and sorting schemes, producer registers, specific labels. These rarely appear in a buyer's first email, and they are the ones that surface after the goods have shipped.
We are not a notified body and not a testing laboratory, and we will not pretend to be one. We do not issue certificates and we do not sign your declaration. What we do is work out which regime applies, which documents have to exist, who has to sign what, and then run that work to the end with the laboratories and operators who are entitled to do their part.
What we do on this side.
Which rules are yours
Product by product: the directives and regulations that actually apply, and the ones that do not.
Building the technical file
Assembling it with your engineers, in a form a European authority can read.
The role somebody has to hold
Working out which European role your setup needs, and who can credibly hold it.
Country registrations
The national registers and labels that come after the European layer.
Questions we get on this.
Is CE marking a certificate we can buy?
For most product families, no. There is a declaration that somebody signs, a technical file that stands behind it, and a named company in the European Union answerable for the product. Some families do require a notified body; many do not. Which case you are in is the first thing to establish.
Our buyer asked for « the CE certificate » and we sent a test report. Why was that not enough?
A test report says a sample passed a test. It does not say who takes responsibility for the product on the European market, which standards were applied, or that a file exists if an authority asks. The buyer needs the declaration of conformity, in their language, and the assurance that the file behind it can be produced.
Do we need a company in Europe to be compliant?
Not necessarily your own. What the rules require is that a role is held by somebody established in the European Union — importer, authorised representative, responsible person or fulfilment provider, depending on the product and how it is sold. Often your buyer already holds one of those roles without realising what it commits them to. Establishing who holds which role, in writing, comes before anything else.
Is European compliance the same in every country?
The European layer is common; several countries then add registrations of their own before a first sale is lawful — packaging and sorting schemes, producer registers, specific labels. They rarely appear in a buyer's first email, and they are the ones that surface after the goods have shipped.
Do you issue the certificates yourselves?
No. We are not a notified body and not a testing laboratory, and we do not sign your declaration. We establish which regime applies, which documents have to exist and who has to sign what, then run that work to the end with the laboratories and operators entitled to do their part.
Send us the product and the countries you want to sell in. The first answer is usually a shorter list of obligations than you expect, and a clearer one.