Help..What certifications for Auto-Electronic products for export to Europe ?

What certifications are mandatory for export to Europe (EU Countries) for electronic products

- working on 12 volt car battery

- to be fitted inside an automobile

- related to autogas industry

Is CE required ?

What other marks are required ?

Is there any auto homologation process required ?

Please help..I need some keywords to start with :)

Mike.

At one time, some EU importers were pressing for ISO 9000 registration.

What I would recommend is that you contact a couple NRTLs

Jeff Hazen, EMC Engineer

It depends on the product. The CE mark mandatory for certain product categories. The EC directives that detail which products will be on the web somewhere. You can bet that anything electronic or child related must comply.

The best advice is to ask one of the test houses for a short meeting to discuss whats required. If they tell you that you need a particular test let them give you a quote. You could also ask your customers... Many importers will insist on a CE mark (even if not mandatory) as a way of mitigating any liability they might have for a product that later turns out to have a safety defect.

The CE mark generally indicates compliance will all EC standards that are "relevant to that product". The problem is working out which EEC standards are relevant. There are safety standards and EMC standards for example and they are different for each product category. Even dynamite can carry a CE mark. Ten years ago I worked on getting computers CE approved. Typically back then our products needed to comply with EN55022 (EMC) and EN60950 (safety).

I once came accross a product that carried the CE mark but which clearly did not comply. Contacted the firm and they admitted that they hadn't been able to get their product to comply.... ironically the product was an expensive bit of test equipment we were using to test our own product for CE compliance. We got out money back.

Many are now law and under an EU directive, such as flicker test and harmonics for 230v 50Hz ac line connected equipment, I use an HP6813A to provide such tests over here in Western Australia.

Many disturbance tests are required otherwise the product is going to be lambasted by any serious competitor thats better cashed up than you.

Especially for any automotive electronic/electrical product you need at least a couple of disturbance tests, like what happens when there is a discharge to a cable which is in the same loom as a cable to your equipment - how does your equipment function (or not) afterwards.

In Australia we have 'C tick' which is pretty much only for EMC

There's probably a reference to UL labs equivalent, EU countries would want to know the product wont catch fire if it gets hot, especially in presence of gas caused either by its own electronics or a disturbance test. Though I'm not sure what the equivalent to UL (USA) us in EU.

My memory must be bad, can you expand on that, cant find my dictionary ;)

If you were in Perth, Id refer you to

I'm guessing you are outside Australia, in US perhaps, so check with the EU industry bodies and speak to UL labs also they will have an idea and will be most helpful esp if you are exporting US manufactured goods to EU countries, onwards patriotism

If it's exclusively Auto, I believe not but there's another regulation you'll need to meet taht I'm not familiar with. Might vary also if it's intended for permanent fitment or not.

Graham