What You Need to Know About the New Machinery Regulation
The Machinery Directive has regulated the health and safety requirements of machinery sold in the European Union since 2006. However, the Machinery Directive is being replaced by the new Machinery Regulation on January 14th, 2027 and will known as the Machinery Regulation moving forward. The Machinery Regulation was officially adopted by the European Union on June 14th, 2023 and entered into force later this summer.
Difference Between Directives & Regulations
The primary difference between Directives and Regulations is that Regulations are to be enforced in the same manner by all countries in the EU. Alternatively, Directives allow European Union countries to enforce the law within their laws, meaning how a Directive is enforced may vary from country to country. Moving forward, the Machinery Regulation will be enforced consistently across all markets in the European Union.
Impact on Machinery Already on the Market
If your machinery is already on the market in the European Union, you don’t need to make any changes to it. The new Machinery Regulation only applies to products and equipment yet to be imported to European Union markets for sale.
Impact on Machinery Yet to Hit the Market
The important thing to understand initially is the transition between the two. Whilst both the Machinery Directive and Regulation are in force, you can select which your equipment conforms to. Until January 14th, 2027 (with certain exceptions) you can legitimately continue to place gear on the market that conforms to the Directive. Thereafter all machinery must conform to the Regulation.
If you mass manufacture a product that you intend to place on the market today and it conforms to the Directive, but your distributors do not sell all the inventory until after the deadline, that is OK. If the product is considered to be “on the market” at the deadline it gets grandfathered, and so that remaining inventory (that is already on the market) can still be sold freely.
If you made a batch of inventory and had not placed it all on the market, say it is warehoused outside the EU, then the moment the deadline passes all that remaining inventory would need to be re-certified to meet the Regulation, not the Directive, before it could be placed on the market. It is the individual inventory items that get grandfather rights, not the model or the design.
Changes to Expect from the New Machinery Regulation
Many companies in the United States that have been adhering to the Machinery Directive and selling machinery in the European Union won’t notice any major changes. The really significant changes brought about by the new Machinery Regulation apply to advanced manufacturing such as AI and robots, otherwise the changes typically involve the technicality of implementation (i.e., how the laws are enforced by countries in the EU), as noted above. We will be addressing the changes in detail separately.
Trust the Machinery Regulation Experts at Technology International
Technology International is keeping a close eye on the changes that the new Machinery Regulation will bring to companies selling machinery to countries in the EU. Click the link below to contact a Machinery Regulation expert with questions about how this change will affect your company or to be guided through the CE Marking process.