Importing goods - is it worth it?

[kev67]

My site sells access control & door intercom systems, the british manufacturing of this is not huge and the profit is getting worse for distributors as most manufacturers are now selling direct to anyone

So we started to import in January this year, the costs are lower but we got fobbed with buying £15k of one item that was not CE marked, I was livid with the manufacturer for duping me

6 months and £3500 later it still isn't CE marked via a UK CE tester then the other day I get an email from the manufacturer who provides me a CE certifcate for it!......arrrrrrrrrrrgh

Question is, do I sell it under this CE mark?

Perhaps I'm in a specialist market here or perhaps I should look at importing MP4 or something because importing for me hasn't been all that it's cracked up to be

[Duncan Rounding]

I guess it's a case of live-n-learn.

If the manufacturer has now supplied a CE certificate then start selling the product under that. If the manufacturer wants to export their product here then it's in their interest to to get it certified, rather than the onus being on you.

[kev67]

very true Mr D, live and learn big time!

The systems I bought failed on one thing that really is a bit OTT (IMO) but it worried me that as it was supplied with no CE I would be selling ilegally, so I went to get it CE'd myself, however it has not passed by a UK tester yet but it's 99% that it will now pass now

I reckon the testers in the UK are stricter than those in China - not sure, but some of the stuff I have seen that has been CE'd would I truly throw it in the bin

As said, I have a CE certificate now from them so I guess that is my proof??

It made me laugh as when I complained to the manufacturer about being misslead back in January did they then offer me UK distribution rights!!

Yea right! I buy £25k per month off you and I end up with a load of none CE systems gathering dust.........hmmmmm

[kev67]

yes it does need to be ROHS too, I forgot to mention that

[RuralWeb]

I reckon the testers in the UK are stricter than those in China - not sure, but some of the stuff I have seen that has been CE'd would I truly throw it in the bin

I read a big article in the papers last week about CE and China. Basically it said that China was doing no testing and just putting the mark on products - CE = China Exempt.

[Duncan Rounding]

Self certification - is this a con?
http://www.cemarking.net/ce-marking/...ion_tools.html

[RuralWeb]

Self certification - is this a con

No - since the EU deligated responsibity to the manufacturer then people just sick the logo on thier products and its stright through at customs. Another great EU cockup

[RuralWeb]

You can make stuff in your garden shed and get the CE logo.

[kev67]

I read a big article in the papers last week about CE and China. Basically it said that China was doing no testing and just putting the mark on products - CE = China Exempt.

Not sure if this is a joke Mal but it made e laugh and it's probably true anyway!
Some of the items I get from a supplier are also imported and "CE" but I bet a UK CE tester would fail it - ours failed on an EMC RF test where they put a frequency voltage up the mains cable, ours didn't like it so it's the power supply I need to change then it should be ok

They cribbed about the general cosmetic design but then as Duncan says, there's "Self Certification" where I sign it off myself!

What the hell is that all about then and the point in my spending £3500 if I can SC?

Con or non con me thinks

[kev67]

Self certification - is this a con?
http://www.cemarking.net/ce-marking/...ion_tools.html

Hang on a min.........................

Have I read this right? this website can charge me $21.50 for a "SC" ?

[RuralWeb]

Not sure if this is a joke Mal but it made e laugh and it's probably true anyway

Its true - it may be online at the Telegraph website.

[kev67]

Its true - it may be online at the Telegraph website.

Im going to read this - cheers Mal

[Mark H]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main...9/nbook119.xml

[RuralWeb]

Thanks Mark:

Safety mark is a danger
Much attention was given last week to the biggest product recall in history, when 18 million toys made in China by the US firm Mattel had to be pulled off the market after it was discovered they contained dangerous lead paint and magnets which children could swallow. Virtually unnoticed, however, was that this represented a massive failure of the system devised by the EU to guarantee that toys (and many other products) comply with safety rules.
Since Brussels took over competence for toy safety from national governments in the Eighties, its system relies on manufacturers labelling their products with a CE mark (for Communauté Européen). To justify this mark, the makers are supposed to have their products independently tested; and once an imported product bears the magic CE mark it cannot be inspected at the port of entry, or checked out by national inspectors.
The EU loves to boast of how its system is respected all over the world, but it has one fundamental flaw. There is in fact no way of guaranteeing that a product has been properly tested. All too often, not least in China, fraudulent CE marks are slapped on products indiscriminately, reducing the system to a charade. As has been observed, CE all too often now seems to mean no more than "China exempted".

[Duncan Rounding]

...Brussels took over competence...

Sorted then.