B350-CEN Fact Sheet Products Cor5.Indd
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1 1 1 1 TOYS BICYCLES FUELS AND BIOFUELS FURNITURE Are you playing it safe? A safe ride home FOR YOUR CAR Are you sitting comfortably? Contributing to a greener environment “The European toy standards are the main tool “The new European bicycle standards constitute an “The previously fragmented nature of individual national “Our customers expect our furniture to be safe. European through which the Swiss health authorities ensure excellent tool for bicycle manufacturers in their ambition standards for biodiesel fuels in Europe has been pulled furniture standards are an important tool in meeting our that consumers and children have only ‘safe’ toys. to ensure that their products conform to legal product together by the CEN biodiesel standard, allowing a customers’ expectations and are an essential element Our active participation in this process – whilst being a safety requirements. spectacular growth in this industry in Europe. in our product developement process. The growing non-EU member – provides us the necessary insights into acceptance of these standards outside Europe is a trends and technological developments in the field.” A test report – based upon the European Standards – It is now the biggest industry of its kind in the world, major benefit for the furniture industry and recognition from an accredited testing laboratory will be considered and the CEN standard is being imitated world-wide. of their quality.” Kurt Luthi as the bicycle’s ‘passport’, providing confidence in A similar effect is expected from the forthcoming Swiss Health Authorities the quality and safety of the bicycle.” CEN standard on bioethanol.” Mats Svensson IKEA of Sweden Christian Wetterberg Barry Cahill Swedish Machinery Testing Institute PSA Peugeot Citroën INITIATIVE INITIATIVE INITIATIVE INITIATIVE Work to develop standards for the safety of toys was initially The co-existence of different national standards, for example In the 1980s the European Commission asked CEN to develop In 1988, in anticipation of the creation of the single European started by industry in individual countries. In particular, France, French, Italian, British and German, caused confusion and market European Standards for diesel and petrol fuels of fossil origin. market, the furniture industry identifi ed the need for common the UK and Germany had national standards which were not fragmentation in Europe. On the initiative of Italy (UNI), CEN started In the 1990s CEN started to specify the criteria for biodiesel European Standards for furniture. compatible. The creation of CEN Technical Committee 52 to develop common European criteria, which has resulted in and bioethanol. ‘Safety of Toys’ was one of the fi rst European initiatives to standards for bicycles laying down safety requirements and These common European Standards had to replace the wide develop standards for consumer products. quality criteria. These standards are the most demanding and CONTENT range of national and other furniture standards and thus contribute up-to-date documents ever published for bicycles. The fi rst petrol and diesel standards (EN 228 and EN 590) were to a real single European furniture market. CONTENT published in 1987 and have since been regularly updated. Stand- The fi rst European toy standards (EN 71-1 and EN 71-2) were CONTENT ards for liquefi ed petroleum gas (LPG) (EN 589) and biodiesel CONTENT published in 1978. They included safety requirements and test The standards for city and trekking bicycles (EN 14764), mountain (EN 14214) followed. The work on bioethanol fuel is ongoing. Over 60 European Standards have been published, including methods for toys. These fi rst standards contributed to the bicycles (EN 14766), racing bicycles (EN 14781) and bicycles for These European biofuel standards are leading the way for the those for offi ce furniture, kitchen furniture, bunk beds and development of the European Union’s Safety of Toys Directive young children (EN 14765) contain requirements and test methods rest of the world. high chairs. These European Standards include, for example, 88/378/EC. for essential parts such as brakes, steering and wheels. requirements for fatigue, fl ame resistance and dimensions. REASONING REASONING REASONING High oil prices, uncertainty over oil reserves and the Kyoto envi- REASONING The fi rst European Standard for toys removed the technical The creation of the single market stimulated the intra-European ronmental objectives have put transport fuel high on the political Discrepancies between different national furniture standards barriers in the toy trade within Europe through identical technical bicycle trade. In addition, the globalization of the world economy agenda. Developments in motor engine design mean that our made it diffi cult for manufacturers to export their products to specifi cations. The subsequent change of the industry, with the and the subsequently increased import of bicycles from other engines are suitable for use with both new fuel of biological other European countries. In addition, different national certifi - increasing importance of multinational manufacturers producing parts of the world also led to fi erce competition in the lower end origin and existing fossil fuel. cation schemes – proving the quality of the product – used toys in the Far East for a world market, further justifi ed the exist- of the bicycle market. This resulted in the need to set minimum national standards. ence of European Standards in this fi eld. When the European quality levels for bicycles, thus ensuring that consumers are PARTICIPATION Safety of Toys Directive came into force, the existing EN 71 series protected against defective, unsafe and low quality bicycles. The standards are drafted by experts from the automobile indus- PARTICIPATION of standards was adapted to complement the new legal frame- try, petroleum companies, biofuel producers, fuel distributors and CEN Technical Committee 207 ‘Furniture’ attracted experts from work. Subsequently, new parts of EN 71 were developed. PARTICIPATION laboratories. European and national authorities also contribute. all over Europe, especially from furniture producing countries. Laboratory experts, bicycle manufactures, representatives of CEN Technical Committee 19 has become the industries’ and Participants from laboratories, trade federations and manufac- PARTICIPATION national authorities and consumer organizations are represented European Commission’s preferred platform to develop European turers keep the standards up to date with advancing furniture The participation of consumers, industry, laboratories and author- in CEN Technical Committee 333 ‘Cycles’. fuel standards. technology. ities in the standardization process guarantees state-of-the-art standards. CEN Technical Committee 52 is one of the largest OUTCOME OUTCOME OUTCOME technical bodies in the fi eld of consumer products. The European Standards for bicycles are the key tool in setting The European Standards for fuel make it possible to drive your European Standards are considered the ideal tool for enabling safety and quality levels for bicycles. The related test methods car from Lisbon to Helsinki without having to worry about fuel the furniture industry to access a market of over 480 million OUTCOME allow test houses to carry out consistent checks. The authorities quality or compatibility. The new biodiesel standard has expand- customers. These standards set benchmarks for furniture quality The toy standards, supporting the essential safety requirements use the bicycle standards as their benchmark to ensure that ed the biodiesel market (+65% production rise 2004-2005), and ensure that products, such as high chairs and playpens, of the Toy Directive, have substantially increased the safety of toys only safe bicycles are on the streets and this in line with the facilitated trade and brought down production costs due to are safe to use. and reduced toy-related accidents. The European Standards European Directives. economies of scale. are the basis for the ISO International Standards for toys. The EUROPEAN STANDARD European toy trade has benefi ted from uniform toy standards, EUROPEAN STANDARD EUROPEAN STANDARD EN 581 ‘Outdoor furniture’ series of standards enabling a reduction of design and production costs. EN 14764 ‘City and trekking bicycles’ EN 228 ‘Unleaded petrol’ EN 747 ‘Bunk beds’ series of standards EN 14765 ‘Bicycles for young children’ EN 589 ‘LPG’ EN 1116 ‘Kitchen furniture’ EUROPEAN STANDARD EN 14766 ‘Mountain bicycles’ EN 590 ‘Diesel’ EN 1335 ‘Offi ce seats’ series of standards EN 71 ‘Safety of toys’ series of standards EN 14781 ‘Racing bicycles’ EN 14214 ‘Biodiesel’ EN 12227 ‘Playpens’ series of standards EN 50088 ‘Safety of electric toys’ EN 14872 ‘Luggage carriers’ CWA 15293 ‘Ethanol E85’ etc. etc. etc. etc. 1 1 1 GETTING INVOLVED STANDARDS FOR SPAIN FRANCE ROMANIA UNITED KINGDOM CZECH REPUBLIC CYPRUS SAFETY AND The participation of experts from a wide range of fi elds is essential GERMANY DENMARK GREECE ESTONIA BELGIUM PORTUGAL for the production of the best standards for consumer products. CONFIDENCE Are you looking for... To fi nd out more about the work in European consumer product standardization or the activities of your National Standards Body, 1 SAFE PRODUCTS? ICELAND LITHUANIA LATVIA MALTA HUNGARY THE NETHERLANDS please contact [email protected] 1 EFFICIENT TEST METHODS? or your National Standards Body directly. 1 OVER 480 MILLION SATISFIED CONSUMERS? More information is available at www.cen.eu IRELAND AUSTRIA POLAND LUXEMBOURG FINLAND