EU Marine Equipment Directive
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Introduction
The European Commission, with the view to harmonize standards for the design, construction and acceptance procedure for the items of equipment referred to in SOLAS and MARPOL, has developed with the help of the industry and the member states, the Marine Equipment Directive (MED).
This directive was ratified on 30th June 1998 and entered into force 1st January 1999. All member states, by law, are required to adopt this directive within their own legislation and provide within their country means to enforce the directive after 1st January 1999.
ABS, through its European Division, has been involved, from the outset, in the development of the MED as one of the industry members in the working group meetings at the European Commission in Brussels.
Implementation
In accordance with Article 4, of the MED, the member states will either authorize organizations, which satisfy the requirements of Annex C of the MED, as a "Notified Body" or undertake this role by themselves for approvals and acceptance procedures in their country.
United Kingdom, one of the member state has given the responsibility of enforcing this Directive within UK to their Department of Transport, Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA).
MCA will therefore delegate Type Approval of equipment under the MED to the Notified Bodies within the UK.
ABS - Recognized as "Notified Body"
ABS is recognized as a "Notified Body" by the UK, MCA , for the MED. The ABS 'NB' identification number is 0729.
In accordance with this authorization ABS can Type Approve equipment under the MED and issue EC Type-Examination (Module B) and Quality Assurance / Product Verification (Modules D or E / F ) or Unit Verification (Module G) certificates to the manufacturer for product approval and authorise the manufacturer to stamp the product with the CE mark of approval, (the ships steering wheel) in accordance with Annex B of the ME Directive.
Example for the application of the "Mark of Conformity":
xxxx - Number of the Notified Body responsible for the quality surveillance module.
yy - Last two digits of the year in which the mark was affixed.
Enforcement
Under the procedures defined in the MED, once an approval has been obtained for the equipment referred to in the Directive by a single "Notified Body", this approval will be acceptable in all other member states.
Recognition that the equipment fully complies with the requirements of the MED will be denoted by the "Ships Steering Wheel".
Scope of the M E Directive
The equipment within the scope of this directive delegated to ABS is life saving and fire fighting equipment referred to in SOLAS and marine pollution equipment contained in MARPOL requiring approvals by the "Administration". The items within the scope of the MED are listed in Annex (A1) and Annex (A2) of the Directive.
The items of equipment in Annex (A1) are those which have established internationally recognised test standards (e.g. IMO Resolutions) and can therefore be tested and approved. For Annex (A2) equipment there are no clearly defined or internationally recognised test standards. Therefore Annex (A2) equipment is subject to approvals in accordance with each of the member state requirements. ABS has authority to Type Approve this equipment on behalf of the UK MCA. It is envisaged that eventually all items of equipment in Annex (A2) will be transferred to Annex (A1) after establishing harmonized standards either through IMO or ISO.
Amendments to the Marine Equipment Directive
The MED has been amended by EC Directives 98/85/EC of 11 November 1998, 2001/53/EC of 10 July 2001, 2002/75/EC of 2 September 2002 and 2002/84/EC of 5 November 2002.
ABS will Type Approve products as per EC Directive 96/98/EC as amended and issue EC Type-examination, Quality Assurance, Product Verification and Unit Verification certificates, as applicable. This procedure for approval and issuance of certification is applicable to all Notified Bodies in all member states.
United Kingdom Legislation
United Kingdom has adopted this Directive into their legislation by issuing a Statutory Instrument "Merchant Shipping (Marine Equipment) Regulation, SI 1999 No1957 and M Notices, numbers MSN 1734 and its Amendment 2, and MSN 1735 and its Amendment 2, both dated 28 May 2002 and 27 February 2003, respectively.
Assistance from ABS
In view of the involvement of ABS staff in the development of this directive a considerable amount of knowledge exists relating to the design approval and testing of each product listed. Therefore, we will be happy to assist the manufacturers of equipment under the MED across the globe in providing them with all the assistance they may require through ABS local and regional offices world wide in the implementation of the requirements listed in the MED for each specific product.
MarED
MarED: The Group of Notified Bodies for the Implementation of the Marine Equipment Directive 96/98/EC as amended
ABS is an active member of the MarED group of Notified Bodies. Further information regarding the MED, Approved Recommendations, the USA/EU Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA), authorised Notified Bodies and the database of approved products contained within the MarED product database can be obtained from the MarED website at:
Contact Offices
Should you require further information regarding any of the subject matter please contact your local ABS office or the ABS London office at the following address:
ABS House,
1, Frying Pan Alley.
London, E 1 7HR
Tel : 020 7247 3255
Fax : 020 7377 2453