The European Conformity Assessment Procedures and the Quality Assurance Instruments for Personal Protective Equipment in the Internal Market

Conform ity assessment procedures prescribed by European legislation are presented and their concrete im plem entation is illustrated by the exam ple of personal protective equipm ent (PPE). The different categories of PPE defined by Council Directive 89/686/EEC are explained w ith reference to the applicable conform ity assessm ent ele ments. Quality assurance of production is presented as the central e lem ent of the conform ity assessment procedure for com plex PPE. Special em phasis is put on the necessity of having a regular exchange of view s and inform ation am ong notified bodies in Europe. W ays in which third countries can eventually carry out conform ity assess m ent on the basis of a contract w ith the European C om m unity Com m ission are explained. internal m arket European com m unity conform ity assessment personal protective equipm ent European standardization quality assurance notified bodies 1. THE INTERNAL MARKET On January 1, 1993, the internal m arket came into existence in the European Communit