Importing goods from China

[SIR MP]

We are looking at buying in packaging machinery from China. Do we have to pay import duty and does the product need to be CE marked. I presume that Sea freight is cheaper than air freight, does anybody have knowledge of this

MP

[SS2.]

Mark - You have mail..

[David_s]

SIR MP said:

I presume that Sea freight is cheaper than air freight, does anybody have knowledge of this

MP

Much, much cheaper.

The cost of seafreight for a typical item I import is £0.05, the airfreight cost for the same item is about £3.00.

A 20' container delivered costs about £1100 (by sea, obviously), airfreight costs about £3 per kg, both prices include customs clearance etc.

Duty will be paid at the port of entry as will VAT.

[M400 NBL]

Judging by our sister companies in China, you've no chance of getting a m/c CE marked.

Chinese manufacturers don't fit guarding as far as I am aware...like the UK many years ago (pre 1998 when Puwer risk assessments were acceptable) before EHSR assessments required CE marking...I think.

A large majority of the global accidents of my employer happen in China...whether it's because of teh unsafe m/c'ery or because there are many times more employees I am not 100% certain.

[David_s]

M400 NBL said:

Judging by our sister companies in China, you've no chance of getting a m/c CE marked.

Chinese manufacturers don't fit guarding as far as I am aware...like the UK many years ago (pre 1998 when Puwer risk assessments were acceptable) before EHSR assessments required CE marking...I think.

A large majority of the global accidents of my employer happen in China...whether it's because of teh unsafe m/c'ery or because there are many times more employees I am not 100% certain.

Plenty of goods are exported from China with a CE mark, you can probably find several examples on your desk. Not all goods made in China are poor quality, the vast majority of products imported by my business come from China/Taiwan and we don't sell crap.

[M400 NBL]

David_s said:

M400 NBL said:

Judging by our sister companies in China, you've no chance of getting a m/c CE marked.

Chinese manufacturers don't fit guarding as far as I am aware...like the UK many years ago (pre 1998 when Puwer risk assessments were acceptable) before EHSR assessments required CE marking...I think.

A large majority of the global accidents of my employer happen in China...whether it's because of teh unsafe m/c'ery or because there are many times more employees I am not 100% certain.

Plenty of goods are exported from China with a CE mark, you can probably find several examples on your desk. Not all goods made in China are poor quality, the vast majority of products imported by my business come from China/Taiwan and we don't sell crap.

I agree but I meant machinery which is waht the OP is referring to. Not judging China or it's engineers, but they usually do things differently than in Europe....at the moment.

[David_s]

M400 NBL said:

David_s said:

M400 NBL said:

Judging by our sister companies in China, you've no chance of getting a m/c CE marked.

Chinese manufacturers don't fit guarding as far as I am aware...like the UK many years ago (pre 1998 when Puwer risk assessments were acceptable) before EHSR assessments required CE marking...I think.

A large majority of the global accidents of my employer happen in China...whether it's because of teh unsafe m/c'ery or because there are many times more employees I am not 100% certain.

Plenty of goods are exported from China with a CE mark, you can probably find several examples on your desk. Not all goods made in China are poor quality, the vast majority of products imported by my business come from China/Taiwan and we don't sell crap.

I agree but I meant machinery which is waht the OP is referring to. Not judging China or it's engineers, but they usually do things differently than in Europe....at the moment.

If your employer has h&s problems at it's own sites in China I would suggest that your company procedures need to be looked at, nobody forces your company to use dangerous equipment wherever in the world it operates.

The Chinese are quite capable of making to European standards, if guarding is required to make a sale then they will fit it.

[SIR MP]

Thanks Guys some very useful advice there. The CE marking aspect is still a concern for me, the Chinese supplier has so far avoided answering my question.
Can the goods be CE marked in this country, if so how and at what cost.

MP

[David_s]

SIR MP said:

Thanks Guys some very useful advice there. The CE marking aspect is still a concern for me, the Chinese supplier has so far avoided answering my question.
Can the goods be CE marked in this country, if so how and at what cost.

MP

If they do agree to CE mark the items do some checks to ensure the validity of the marking, some Chinese suppliers will happily mark their products ' Made in the USA' if it helps them sell more.... If you sell the products in the EEC with a CE mark it becomes your responsibility to ensure compliance.

[M400 NBL]

SIR MP said:

Thanks Guys some very useful advice there. The CE marking aspect is still a concern for me, the Chinese supplier has so far avoided answering my question.
Can the goods be CE marked in this country, if so how and at what cost.

MP

That's my point. Not all Chinese m/c manufacturers are able to or want to CE mark their m/c's.

[M400 NBL]

David_s said:

M400 NBL said:

David_s said:

M400 NBL said:

Judging by our sister companies in China, you've no chance of getting a m/c CE marked.

Chinese manufacturers don't fit guarding as far as I am aware...like the UK many years ago (pre 1998 when Puwer risk assessments were acceptable) before EHSR assessments required CE marking...I think.

A large majority of the global accidents of my employer happen in China...whether it's because of teh unsafe m/c'ery or because there are many times more employees I am not 100% certain.

Plenty of goods are exported from China with a CE mark, you can probably find several examples on your desk. Not all goods made in China are poor quality, the vast majority of products imported by my business come from China/Taiwan and we don't sell crap.

I agree but I meant machinery which is waht the OP is referring to. Not judging China or it's engineers, but they usually do things differently than in Europe....at the moment.

If your employer has h&s problems at it's own sites in China I would suggest that your company procedures need to be looked at, nobody forces your company to use dangerous equipment wherever in the world it operates.

I quite agree but if Chinese employers are not used to operation with guards then it is very much a cultural concern, ie not as easy as just making all employees only work with guards in place. We had the same problem in teh UK many years ago where using guarding often reduced productivity and it has taken a while to change our mentality. Mine included.

Can you imagine telling an American to wear a helmet whilst riding his Harley...because it's safer. It isn't the norm and so would prove difficult.

As far as I am aware, h&s does not have a global policy,in which case countries operate to their own requirements, according to their own HSE. I am refering to my empoyer btw.

[Goochie]

David_s said:

Plenty of goods are exported from China with a CE mark, you can probably find several examples on your desk. Not all goods made in China are poor quality, the vast majority of products imported by my business come from China/Taiwan and we don't sell crap.

I could more or less say exactly the same thing about our place.

Many of our products conform to multiple CE/BS/UL/UR standards. testing is often arranged by the factory if we order a product as "approved" they'll do the rest.

The biggest problem people have is when they try to do things by remote control or relying on translators IN China.

Get yourself aquainted with a UK based translator who will work for you and have your interests at heart.