China Export and the CE marking

16.3.2017

Question for written answer E-001822-17
to the Commission
Rule 130
Angelo Ciocca (ENF) , Matteo Salvini (ENF)

The illegal sale of a wide range of Chinese goods which, to get around EU legislation on the CE marking, bear an almost identical mark, is still widespread in Italy. The Chinese CE mark is claimed to be an abbreviation of ‘China Export’.

Consumers are misled by the fraudulent mark into purchasing goods that are potentially dangerous and which, as has been proven in some cases, are made from materials that are also highly toxic.

This also results in illegal competition and significant damage done to law-abiding Italian traders.

The decree on the European conformity (CE) marking provides, inter alia, that anyone using abbreviations that may be mistaken for the CE marking shall be fined between EUR 1 000 and EUR 6 000. This does not however seem sufficient to stop the trade in counterfeit goods bearing the Chinese mark.

1) Could the Commission provide information and statistics on fines imposed for counterfeit versions of the CE marking?

2) Will the Commission raise the issue of counterfeit goods at the next EU-China summit, which will, presumably, be held in June 2017?