When entering the foreign market, each product needs to comply with the local certification. There is mandatory certification such as CE, but also voluntary certification such as GS. There are also many certifications for spray guns, broadly divided into a certificate for manual spray guns and electric spray guns. Manufacturers need to provide documentation to meet local norms when offering products to sell in the market.
Regular certification for manual spray gun
Manual spray gun refers to the pneumatic paint tool that does not contain how to electronic or liquid. For different countries to import paint spray guns, you need to meet the local certification for product safety, such as CE for countries in the EU zone.
What is the CE marking?
“The letters CE (as the logo CЄ) on commercial products mean that the manufacturer or importer affirms the good’s conformity with European health, safety, and environmental protection standards. It is not a quality indicator or a certification mark. The CE marking is required for goods sold in the European Economic Area (EEA) but is also found on products sold elsewhere that have been manufactured to EEA standards. ” Quoted from Wikipedia
Manual spray gun belongs to the MD Machinery Directive’s CE certification, a series of CE directives designated by the EU for machinery products laws and regulations. All machinery products exported to Europe are required to comply with the requirements of the Machinery Directive. The latest machinery directive is 2006/42/EC, Machinery Directive, generally referred to as MD. the primary purpose is to ensure that machinery and safety devices do not endanger personal health.
Which counties need CE marking?
- EU countries: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain
- Although not a European country, Turkey has made CE marking mandatory for entering the market, and it’s required to import spray guns.
- The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) is a member of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) in three of its four-member countries except for Switzerland: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway.
Validity of CE marking
CE is generally valid for five years, but if your product itself and the process have changed or updated the product directive, the product should also re-apply.
Regular certification for electric spray gun
Electric spray guns, as the name implies, are paint spraying tools that contain original electronic parts. Because the product is electrically charged, purchasers are more concerned about the product’s safety when importing. In addition to the mandatory CE certification, many manufacturers will obtain more reliable voluntary certification according to customer demand—for example, GS.
What is the GS certification?
The Geprüfte Sicherheit (“Tested Safety”) or GS mark is a voluntary certification mark for technical equipment. It indicates that the equipment meets German and, if available, European safety requirements for such devices. Quote from Wikipedia.
GS and CE are both European countries for product safety certification. The most obvious difference is the use of different regions. CE marking is used in EU countries. It does not belong to the EU countries; it is not applicable. It only belongs to the EU countries within the scope of GS certification only Germany, only Germany will recognize this certification, so it only belongs to the German range. The next is the difference between the two certification directives and the limits of harmful substances.
GS certification necessity
- GS as product safety and quality reliability mark, more widely recognized by German and EU consumers.
- Maximize the risk of manufacturers’ liability in terms of product quality.
- Enhance the confidence of manufacturers in product quality, safety, and compliance with legal requirements.
- Emphasize to consumers the manufacturer’s obligations regarding product quality and safety.
- Producers can ensure to end-users that products bearing the GS mark have passed the tests of third-party testing institutes.
- In many cases, the quality and safety of products bearing the GS mark go beyond what is required by law.
- The GS mark can gain higher recognition than the CE mark because a third-party testing organization issues the GS certificate with specific qualifications.
How do you validate CE or GS?
- CE is just a mark; so far, the EU has not done a unified query. You can follow the bottom of the certificate, the certification agency to provide the website and telephone contact. It would be best to verify whether the institution is a suitable EU regulatory and certification qualification. You can check on the official website of the EU.
- You can check the GS certificate through the GS issuing agency’s query website (generally on the official website). GS agencies include TUV Rheinland, TUV Süd, INTERTEK. So we need to find the corresponding query website and then enter the certificate number or the English name of the company. You can find the factory corresponding to the product GS certification information application and then check it!
The cost and process of GS certification are more complicated than CE, so most manufacturers generally choose CE certification because it meets the mandatory requirements for exporting to Europe. There are currently no special requirements if exported to countries outside Europe, such as the United States, Australia, Southeast Asia, etc.
