Enhancing market integrity: CECE's initiatives against non-compliant machinery
CECE is actively supporting better and more informed market surveillance, by presenting and discussing its latest activities at the AdCo meeting, which took place on 2nd October in Tallinn. The Administrative Cooperation group is an official coordination body between all the competent authorities in the EU for market surveillance and inspections.
Our Health and Safety Policy Manager, Martina Griffo, spoke on behalf of CECE and gave a detailed presentation outlining the difficulties the construction equipment industry faces as a result of non-compliant machinery being present in the EU internal market. Grey imports, or second-hand equipment that does not meet European requirements, are one of these challenges. As non-compliant machinery continues to enter the market, especially from outside of Europe, these issues pose a threat to safety and compliance throughout the EU. To solve this problem, it is essential to maintain control at important entry points like ports and customs and thus improve the control of the machinery entering or re-entering the European Internal market.
A primary topic of discussion during the presentation was the ongoing efforts of CECE in creating a series of informative brochures for authorities, clients and end-users. These brochures will function as useful instruments or checklists for examining and, eventually spotting cases of non-compliance in the most common construction machinery. In addition, CECE informed AdCo of the intent to develop an open website to host all the brochures, encouraging additional collaborators to participate and efficiently share this important material.
Furthermore, we recommended that, as part of CECE's efforts to ensure that only compliant equipment reaches the European market, on-site seminars be held at ports and customs facilities. With CECE’s knowledge of the machinery and the support of the checklists, these meetings could provide customs officers and market surveillance authorities with the knowledge and tools they need to conduct thorough inspections.
The response to the presentation was overwhelmingly positive. The AdCo audience expressed strong interest in the brochures and in the collaborative approach proposed. The presentation opened the door for a fair and constructive discussion on the challenges and the potential solutions.
Martina Griffo emphasised CECE's commitment to building stronger partnerships between manufacturers, market surveillance authorities, and end users. The goal is to work together on common initiatives that will improve the regulatory environment, reduce non-compliance, and create a safer and more competitive market for construction equipment across Europe.
The European Commission representatives attending the meeting welcomed the efforts made by CECE in addressing these critical issues. While recognizing the importance of the initiative, they suggested that CECE present this work at the upcoming Machinery Expert Group meeting on 17th October.
Building on the enthusiastic response to the presentation, we're eager to structure roundtable discussions and collaborative initiatives. In addition to increasing awareness, these actions could offer specific steps for enhancing market surveillance systems. We encourage you to look over the presentation slides, which are accessible here, for further information. We encourage all stakeholders to participate in the ongoing dialogue.
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