I am kind of a “provo” from the Sixties. That also means I hate rules from “above”. Did you ever look up to see the faces from those looking down on you and making the rules …. Bèèèèhhhh, what an annoying shit! I was thinking of that while having an “in-flight” discussion with ex-stewardess Ayse Yurga. Rules are KILLING. At least for me.
She is from Ankara, Turkey. The same country Adnan and Eda Arduman are coming from. People I love so much, I cannot express. Two years ago we spent a holiday together with them sailing on a boat. With friends and family from USA, Holland and France.
Captain Birol and family if I am right. Best weather, food, drinks, all what we wanted. We had a greatest time! Will never forget. Specially while I could keep email contact with the full world through my Turkish USB stick. Thát was a part of the deal. I come, but … Thanks Eda!
Adnan was doing a very good job for PrimaLuna in Turkey. Initially we had all models CE tested and certified. Very expensive. And nowhere, anyone, asked for it. So for newer models we decided NOT to go for the CE certification and instead to make our own CE statement. Which is 100% legal by the way. Then Turkish government decided for change of CE rules and to accept only official CE Certificates. So we could not export any new PrimaLuna models to Turkey … :-(. Big shit. Just because of a few documents. I know that companies like Audio Research were “photoshopping” documents to get their stuff in, but we did not want to run that risk. So for some time, PrimaLuna was “quiet” in Turkey.
Then we got the good news that rules were changing again in Turkey (let’s look UP again all of us) :-(. And everything could be imported again the more or less normal way. Like in Europe. In the meantime however we decided to have all models CE certified for a “modest” amount of US $ 25,000.- as also Taiwain, Vietnam were asking for the Certificates (in fact the countries which wanted to protect their local manufacturing). OK, back to business in Turkey again! :-).
This week we shipped a container direct from China into Poland. At least we tried. Poland is Europe! Not for CE! So all goods were shipped without the CE Certificates … Can you imagine how shit you can feel all about this? Rules, rules, rules. Last year we have spent € 25,000.- to get the CE Approval for all new models. Nobody ever asked for it. Nobody needed it. Untill today in Poland. What a luck these certifcates can fly the digital way. Good luck Jarek, good luck with the rules, rules, rules … Good we did that official CE Certification again last year! Up to the next!
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Herman are you saying that PrimaLuna has official CE Certification for all models and for example Audio Research has not? Interesting!
Hallo Roy. Yes that is what I am saying. At least that was the case a year or so ago. They contacted me about this issue, how I was solving that with my gear, and mentioning at the same time they were “photoshopping” some documents to find their “solution”.
But your reaction makes me think. If I am paying all these charges for CE Certification and my competition is not, then we we can say it is unfair competition. Correct? The question is, do I accept that, or not?
And … something else that came up in my mind. What’s going to be the reaction of the insurance companies if damages or even worse, death, occurs through a NON CE CERTIIFIED piece of audio equipment? Do they pay or do they say “Sorry, the product was not CE CERTIFIED, so we are not responsable, we don’t pay”.
How about a show full of high-end equipment, full of NON CE CERTIFIED hifi equipment? Maybe good reason for all exhibitors of the coming Münich High End Show to talk to their insurance companies?
How about being a hifi dealer having NON CE CERTIFIED hifi equipment on display or for sale. What’s the risk for the dealers? Time to ask their supplier to sign for responsability?
Thanks Roy for kind of “waking me up”? And you know what? I am suddenly not feeling so bad anymore about having paid all these charges for having CE CERTIFIED PrimaLuna and Mystère products. Thanks, thanks, thanks. Also for giving me the idea to investigate my fair or unfair competition … Private Investigations …
Another thought to ‘wake you up’:
In the EU the responsibility for a safe and compliant product lies with the highest representative in the chain of manufacturer or distributor down to dealer and even consumer present in Europe. And, the responsibility falls back to a person, not a company. Here comes the catch: it cannot be insured, it is a crime when a flawed product causes disability or lethal harm.
So, within that thinking, if Durob Audio imports a brand of audio products from the US which does not meet CE requirements and sell those in the Benelux, it would be your ass when someone gets hurt by it!
Not having official test reports in court is not always a fatal thing. When a small company produces about 100 units it is usually enough to proof that it has investigated and checked if all applicable standards have been met. When a company produces a few thousands the risk is much higher, so test reports are needed. Manufacturing more than 10.000 units, it makes sense to have someone from TUV or UL check the production line once in a while.
But again, the person who sells it in the EU should know what kind of risks he takes!
Maybe it is a good idea to set up a website where manufacturers can upload the brand and model they have a CE certificate for. With the reference number and eventuallty the pdf itself. That would at least clear up some things. It is however not a reference for anyone, not for me, not for others, that every piece in the market is the same. That makes this CE Cerification a bit doubtful. It just proves that one item of a certain model was behaving according to some rules. So still if there is a problem, it won’t help you much. Specially not the guy -as you say- who is resposible for the import into Europe. I don’t know exactly about insurance. There is a company insurance that covers damages but I never doubted about this kind of situations. Scaring anyway.