Checking for genuine CE / UKCA mark

MouldyOldDough

Is there some way of checking whether an item has a genuine CE mark or whether it is fake ?

I have just ordered a Chinese made USB adapter from Amazon that claims to be safe - because it has a CE mark and UKCA mark.

Is there a database online or something - because CE marking seem totally pointless otherwise...

Screenshot from their website :

al3xp

No, it is self certified. Just means the manufacturer is declaring it meets or exceeds the minimum legal standards for that type of product.

molerat

The only reasonably safe way is to buy from Amazon themselves and not a 3rd party, most likely Chinese, market place seller.

MouldyOldDough

al3xp said:

No, it is self certified. Just means the manufacturer is declaring it meets or exceeds the minimum legal standards for that type of product.

So its not a genuine CE mark then ?

illegal ?

al3xp

MouldyOldDough said:

al3xp said:

No, it is self certified. Just means the manufacturer is declaring it meets or exceeds the minimum legal standards for that type of product.

So its not a genuine CE mark then ?

illegal ?

No I'm not saying that, the CE and UKCA markings just mean that the manufacturer is self certifying that the product meets the required standards.

It doesn't have to go through any official tests to receive those marks. The manufacturer just gets to declare it and affix the symbols themselves. You have to trust the manufacturer has validated their own claims.

molerat

MouldyOldDough said:

al3xp said:

No, it is self certified. Just means the manufacturer is declaring it meets or exceeds the minimum legal standards for that type of product.

So its not a genuine CE mark then ?

illegal ?

It may be genuine, it may not be.  All suppliers self test and if the items pass the test they can apply the mark which leaves the system open to abuse. It is more about who you buy it from.

Many years ago my employer sold CE marked car light bulbs manufactured in an EU state, to use them legally they had to be marked.  There were different standards applied depending on what equipment was available to the tester, certain tests could be bypassed.  These bulbs would have failed the test if done in any other EU state but as it was the CE marking was valid and they were legal to use, an individual state was not allowed to retest them and prevent them from being sold.  We had a discussion with the local traffic police after several people had been stopped over the light emitted from these bulbs and showed them the conformity paperwork. A complete farce.

forgotmyname

Buy a branded product.

They used to say CE was China Export 10001% nothing like the CE mark. 

The manuafacturer has checked it conforms to the regulations, maybe with a wink and crossed fingers or maybe they
went through a whole shipping container and found one that does conform?  If it did conform originally have they
dont quality control to ensure it still conforms?

I buy quite a bit from China but mains powered items are generally not on my list of items to purchase and those that
I do buy get taken apart before use.  All too often you may find the earth lead missing or just floating around inside.

£ Shops sell decent USB power supplies, a better purchase than some unknown brand/maker.

Beware the UL also, one mains powered device stated it was UL certified which was correct technically but the UL test
was the spacing of the pins/size of the connector not an actual check on whether it was safe to actually power anything.

Self certified, what could possibly go wrong?

Albermarle

£ Shops sell decent USB power supplies, a better purchase than some unknown brand/maker.

I would guess these in the Pound shop are unknown brands/unbranded, and also made in China.
Better though than buying from 3rd party seller on Amazon, probably.

MouldyOldDough

So there's no online database of CE/UKCA manufacturers? 

al3xp

MouldyOldDough said:

So there's no online database of CE/UKCA manufacturers? 

Nope.

You don't have to register to use the symbol. Any company can apply it to their product as a self declaration the product complies with all relevant legislation.

MouldyOldDough

al3xp said:

MouldyOldDough said:

So there's no online database of CE/UKCA manufacturers? 

Nope.

You don't have to register to use the symbol. Any company can apply it to their product as a self declaration the product complies with all relevant legislation.

So it's a total farce then?