Analysis on New Battery Laws,
Analysis on New Battery Laws,

▍What is CE Certification?

The CE mark is a “passport” for products to enter the EU market and the EU Free Trade Association countries market. Any stipulated products (involved in the new method directive), whether manufactured outside the EU or in EU member states, in order to circulate freely in the EU market, they must be in compliance with the requirements of the directive and relevant harmonized standards before being placed on the EU market , and affix the CE mark. This is a mandatory requirement of EU law on related products, which provides a unified minimum technical standard for the trade of products of various countries in the European market and simplifies trade procedures.

▍What is CE directive?

The directive is a legislative document established by the European Community Council and the European Commission under authorization of the European Community Treaty. The applicable directives for batteries are:

2006/66 / EC & 2013/56 / EU: Battery Directive. Batteries that comply with this directive must have a trash can mark;

2014/30 / EU: Electromagnetic Compatibility Directive (EMC Directive). Batteries that comply with this directive must have the CE mark;

2011/65 / EU: ROHS directive. Batteries that comply with this directive must have the CE mark;

Tips: Only when a product complies with all CE directives (the CE mark needs to be pasted), can the CE mark be pasted when all the requirements of the directive are met.

▍The Necessity of Applying for CE Certification

Any product from different countries that wants to enter the EU and the European Free Trade Zone must apply for CE-certified and CE marked on the product. Therefore, CE certification is a passport for products entering EU and the European Free Trade Zone.

▍Benefits of Applying for CE certification

1. EU laws, regulations, and coordinate standards are not only large in quantity, but also complex in content. Therefore, obtaining the CE certification is a very smart choice to save time and effort as well as to reduce the risk;

2. A CE certificate can help earning the trust of consumers and market supervision institution to a maximum extent;

3. It can effectively prevent the irresponsible allegations situation;

4. In the face of litigation, the CE certification will become legally valid technical evidence;

5. Once punished by EU countries, the certification body will jointly bear the risks with the enterprise, thus reducing the risk of the enterprise.

▍Why MCM?

● MCM has a technical team with up to more than 20 professionals engaged in the field of battery CE certification, which provide clients with faster and more accurate and latest CE certification information;

● MCM provides various CE solutions including LVD, EMC, battery directives, etc. for clients;

● MCM has provided more than 4000 battery CE tests worldwide till today.

On June 14th 2023, the EU parliament approved a new law that would overhaul EU battery directives, covering design, manufacture and waste management. The new rule will replace directive 2006/66/EC, and is named as New Battery Law.
Directive 2006/66/EC is about environmental protection and wasted battery management. However, the old directive has its limits with high increase of battery demand. Based on the old directive, the new law defines rules on sustainability, performance, safety, collection, recycle and repurpose lifetime. It also regulates that end users and relevant operators should be provided with formation of battery.
Rechargeable industry-use battery, light means of transport battery and EV batteries that are over 2kWh should provide carbon footprint declaration and label mandatorily. This will be implemented 18 months after regulation takes valid.Limit on usage of mercury, cadmium and lead.
Portable batteries should be designed to be easily removed or replaced.
(Portable batteries should be regarded as easily removed by end users. This means the batteries can be taken out with tools available in market instead of specialized tools, unless the specialized tools are provided freely.)