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Kerstin Garbracht:
CE or not CE - that´s the question
Feb 21, 2011
In an effort to maximise profit, a German steel trader innocently got himself into hot water. He was looking to buy a huge lot of an advanced steel grade. Accordingly, he was a bit surprised when receiving an offer from China, however, the price was so mouth watering that he entered negotiations. Very carefully he checked every detail and, of course, he made clear that he can only accept products with CE mark. The Chinese confirmed they were in the position to supply this steel with CE mark.
So the German steel trader accepted the tender of the Chinese supplier, got everything fixed in contracts, especially the quality with CE mark, and the business was home and dry. He felt comfortable as he was convinced to have made a really good deal, and never did he expect that there would be the devil to pay until the steel arrived in Germany. He couldn´t trust his eyes. How could material of such inferior quality have been certified with CE mark?
When he strongly complained to the Chinese about not having delivered steel with the conformity mark of the EC, they countered that he did only ask for steel with CE mark, and this was exactly what they delivered. Unearthing the plain truth, they pointed to the mark consisting of the two capital characters C and E explaining that this stands for China Export.
Poor steel trader - he had no chance than to bite the bullet!
Genuine CE mark or copycat?
How can you make sure not to be taken in? Basically, dont´ trust business partners offering you to high profit! And, as far as the conformity mark of the European Community, well-known as CE mark, is concerned, the two characters belong to a certain font and they are positioned at a precisely defined distance. Copycats often use the same font, but can mostly be identified by a modification of this distance and/or by narrower tracking of the letters. As many variants exist and new ones are expected to be created, we do not present any images here but encourage you to access the website of the European Union for the correct CE mark:
http://ec.europa.eu/news/business/100419_de.htm
and here you can find the exact positioning and distances:
http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/e_i/news/article_10024_fr.htm
In addition, make sure to read these articles:
CE or not CE - that´s the question
China goes quality
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