CE Marking for Products Imported from China
Published by Aeonix Trade.
Put a CE mark on a China-made product only when a specific EU act says that product must carry it. Regulation (EC) No 765/2008, Article 30, as of 10 November 2026, allows the mark to be affixed only by the manufacturer or the authorised representative, and only on products whose harmonisation law provides for it. The same article forbids the mark on every other product. Your Europe, same date, states there is no central EU body that issues a CE certificate, and that the signed declaration and the technical file must be kept for at least 10 years after the product is placed on the market. For a Shenzhen desk lamp, the rule is binary: name the act, or leave the mark off the print.
Send the product name and the EU act you think applies so the sourcing file can list who signs the declaration and where the technical file will sit.
Which act, then who signs
The Commission CE marking page, as of 10 November 2026, says the manufacturer carries out the conformity assessment, sets up the technical file, issues the EU declaration of conformity, and affixes the mark. Importers must know the legal requirements and make sure the products they place on the EEA market meet them. A booth sticker does not perform those steps. Your Europe adds the order of work: identify the EU-wide requirements, decide whether the act lets the manufacturer assess the product or requires a notified body, gather the technical documentation, then draft and sign the declaration.
A notified body enters only when that act requires one. "It is electrical" is not the test. Write the directive or regulation title into the order. If the build changes after the declaration is signed, Your Europe says the declaration is reviewed. The mark itself must be visible, legible, and indelible.
| Ask for | What "enough" looks like |
|---|---|
| The Union act | The directive or regulation that provides for the mark on this product. Article 30 forbids the mark where no act provides for it. |
| Who signs | The manufacturer or the authorised representative. A trading-company PDF is not that signature unless that firm is the manufacturer under the act. |
| Declaration of conformity | A signed EU declaration for this build, not a photograph of a mark. |
| Technical file | The evidence behind the declaration, held for at least 10 years after placing on the market. |
| Notified body | Named only if the act requires one, with the module the act uses. Otherwise the manufacturer assesses the product. |
Where the lamp file usually breaks
The factory prints the mark because the sample already had one. Article 30 puts affixing on the manufacturer or the authorised representative, and only where the law provides for it. A test report against a standard that nobody has tied to an act is laboratory evidence, not the declaration. How to plan that laboratory work sits on product testing for imports from China. Great Britain uses a different marking page: UKCA and CE for Great Britain. If the same goods are also offered to consumers in the Union, the economic operator under the product-safety regulation is a separate appointment, on the responsible-person page.
What buyers ask
Does every shipment from China need the mark?
No. The Commission page says it is forbidden to affix the mark to products that are not covered. A textile, a mug, and a radio do not share one answer.
Is the test report the declaration?
No. The Commission page separates the technical file, the declaration, and the mark. The report can sit inside the file. Article 30 is what the affixing means: the manufacturer takes responsibility for conformity with the requirements of the act that provides for the mark.
Add the product and the destination Member State to the RFQ if you want those five document rows tracked against the supplier's reply.
Sources
- Regulation (EC) No 765/2008, Article 30. As of 10 November 2026. Who may affix the mark, and on which products.
- European Commission: CE marking. As of 10 November 2026. Assessment, declaration, and what the mark does not mean.
- Your Europe: CE marking. As of 10 November 2026. No central certificate; at least 10 years of retention.
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