Glossary
CE marking
CE marking is the manufacturer's own declaration, stamped on a product, that it meets every EU health, safety and environmental directive or regulation that applies to it. There is no CE certificate and no CE inspector: the manufacturer completes the required conformity assessment, self-assessment for most consumer goods, third-party assessment for higher-risk products, and affixes the mark on their own responsibility.
Why it matters
Placing CE marking on a product you have not actually assessed is a compliance offence, and buyers, marketplaces and customs authorities treat the mark as evidence the work has been done. Selling into the EU without CE marking a product needs is one of the most common reasons goods are stopped at the border or pulled from marketplaces.