The European Parliament voted last Wednesday on a new EU regulation for personal protective equipment (PPE) - covering items such as sports helmets, shinguards, diving suits and swimming goggles – which updates the current EU rules on these products. The European Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry (Fesi), which represents the interests of around 85 percent of the European sporting goods market, expressed its satisfaction at the number of improvements to the original proposal which were introduced and which limit the costs for economic operators involved in making sporting equipment safer. Compliance with the regulation can in fact be costly and cumbersome for the industry, and Fesi has lobbyied to limit the burden on compliant manufacturers.
As opposed to the original proposal, the regulation that will enter into force is not making it mandatory for manufacturers to provide additional papers with each PPE, such as a Declaration of Conformity, which is a legal document where the manufacturer attests that the product concerned complies with all relevant provisions of the PPE Regulation. Also, the new regulation provides for a simplified procedure to renew EU-type examination certificates as opposed to a full assessment every five years if no relevant changes were made to the product. This can mean savings of up to €5,000 per product range and fewer bureaucratic procedures. Finally, Fesi points out that the regulation strictly and explicitly applies to protective clothing and not to regular clothing that contains fluorescent and reflective elements and products to protect the wearer against atmospheric conditions that are not of an extreme nature or to protect against humidity and water, such as seasonal clothing.
The regulation on PPE is of key importance to the sporting goods industry as it defines legal obligations to ensure that the equipment can be marketed in the EU. The CE label of conformity affixed to the related products provides evidence of the verification of the required safety level. The new regulation is expected to become fully applicable in 2018. Until then, the EU will draft the implementing guidelines for the regulation, for application by member states.
