CE stands for Conformite Europeanne, meaning European conformity (EC) and is applicable to diverse range of electronic products. CE is effective and mandatory in the entire European Economic Area. CE testing, which may lead a product to CE certification, is a technique of determining the authenticity of certain products and provision of authorisation for the same to be marketed in the EEA.

Originally, EC is not a quality analysis body but it may rightly be considered so because of the parameters of the CE certification. While on one hand, CE marking signifies approval to the product to be sold in EEA; on the other hand it allows smooth and obstacle-free marketing of the product. Marketing of products, which are subject to CE testing, without CE certification may be considered as an offence in EEA.

These tests and quality assurance parameters have come into existence as result of the globalisation of industries where products are exported and imported between countries. This poses a threat of quiet marketing of false products. CE testing requires every product to pass through set of CE parameters before being launched in the market. Attainment of CE certification before the product reaches open market is also a condition of EC.

European Conformity is applicable to most electronic products. A CE certification signifies that a product works as it is intended to without harmful side-effects to people and the environment. CE certification cannot be attained without proper CE testing, conformity declaration and availability of all the required documents on request. Once the test and all the relevant documents are verified by EC, the product is certified.

The categories of products which are subject to CE certification are wireless devices, electromagnetic devices, measuring instruments, consumer electronics, heaters, noise emitting products, light industrial products, electronic toys, machinery, energy-related products, scientific equipment, marine equipment, radio and telecommunication terminals, etc. and a few others. CE testing of different products involves different techniques that duly analyse and validate the conformity of the product.

EC is effective in Iceland, Norway and Switzerland too apart from all the member countries of the European Union (EU). Products which are imported from foreign countries also need to pass CE testing even though they may have been certified in their home country. The responsibility to verify whether the imported products comply with the EC belongs to the importer. However, member countries of Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA) do not require CE certification.
However, attaining CE certification has become considerably convenient with the rise of agencies and companies which perform CE testing and fulfil directives of the EC to get the product certified. While this has introduced another industry, that of the certification services providers, it has lightened the load of assessment and validation of products from the manufacturers.

It is important to be aware of CE testing http://islandlabs.ca/ce-marking and CE certification http://www.islandlabs.ca/services/certification to choose the right service provider for your product.