CECIMO has just published new ‘Guidelines for CE marking on metal working milling machines’. This is the third publication in a series of guidelines aimed at supporting market surveillance authorities, customs authorities and economic operators to assess the conformity of machines with existing European product safety law. ‘The circulation of non-compliant products within the EU market puts both the safety of workers and the competitiveness of the European Machine Tool Industry at risk’ says Mr. Juha Mäkitalo, Chairman of CECIMO’s Technical Committee. ‘The aim of the CECIMO Guidelines is to contribute to a more effective market surveillance in the Internal Market’.
The need for an effective market surveillance
Metalworking milling machines are machine tools designed to shape cold metal using a rotating cutting tool. It is one of the most commonly used processes in industry. In 2016, 53,679 milling machines were traded in the EU 28 and the number of machines brought to the EU market increases regularly.
EU legislation lays down the essential requirements for products to conform to, in order to guarantee a high level of protection for the health and safety of consumers, workers and the environment. The non-enforcement of these regulations creates unfair competition and undermines the competitiveness of those economic operators who do comply with the rules. Post-market control, in the form of market surveillance, has therefore an important role in creating a level playing field, which encourages competition centred around high health and safety standards, and not as a race to the bottom at the expense of these standards.
“The increasing number of products and the complexity of some of these products and legislation make sometimes difficult for national authorities to respond adequately to the challenges of the market. Through the Guide, we share our sectorial knowledge with the relevant stakeholders and facilitate market surveillance” explains Mr Mäkitalo.
CECIMO Guidelines to raise awareness and provide practical instructions for conformity assessment
CECIMO expects these guidelines to increase awareness among public and private stakeholders about the essential requirements on health and safety applying to machine tools. CECIMO guides provide a quick check-list to help conformity assessment and verify if the machine complies with the legal provisions, therefore allowing for the use of the CE marking.
Before the Guide on milling machines, CECIMO published two other Guidelines for CE marking on electro-discharge machines (EDM) and on metalworking band sawing machines.
Different stakeholders will benefit from these guides in various ways. Market surveillance and customs authorities can refer to CECIMO guides during their checks, whereas users of machine tools can use the guides to support their purchasing decisions. Furthermore, the guide will help EU producers and importers of milling machines to check the conformity of the goods they trade in the Single Market.
CECIMO Guidelines to be presented during Safety Day at EMO Hannover 2017
CECIMO will present the new Guidelines during the Safety Day for Machine Tools that will take place on 19 September during EMO Hannover 2017. EMO is the leading international trade fair for the metalworking machine tool industry.
At the Safety Day, top experts will present the state of the art and their insights on current requirements and challenges related to machine tool safety. They will give practical solutions to ensure high levels of safety and discuss what remains to be done in the future.
The CECIMO Guidelines for CE marking on metal working milling machines can be downloaded from: http://www.cecimo.eu/site/publications/ce-guides/
