The Committee for European Construction Equipment (CECE), which represents manufacturers, says that one in three of its members is losing sales because of non-compliant machines entering the market. In the UK, as in the rest of Europe, there is little or no policing of whether construction plant confirms to EU regulations. Neither trading standards officer, the police, the Health & Safety Executive nor HM Revenue & Customs regard the issue of CE compliance as having anything to do with them.
CECE says that the problem of non-compliant machines coming to Europe is a major obstacle for tree trade on the European internal market, but no authority is prepared to do anything about it. It is therefore time for the industry to police itself. CECE is calling on rental companies and operators to form a joint force.
CECE president Eric Lepine said: “A good market surveillance system enables a shift from unfair price competition between machines that are not complying to the same standards to a fair competition based on quality amongst machines that are compliant.”
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