Overview
Products tested and certified in the United States will likely have to be re-tested and re-certified to EU requirements as a result of the EU’s different approach to the protection of the health and safety of consumers and the environment. Where products are not regulated by specific EU technical legislation, they are always subject to the EU’s General Product Safety Directive as well as to possible additional national requirements.
While harmonization of EU legislation can facilitate access to the EU Single Market, manufacturers should be aware that regulations (mandatory) and technical standards (voluntary) might also function as barriers to trade if U.S. standards are different from those of the European Union.
Standards
The Standardization, Accreditation and Metrology Centre (SAMC) is a limited liability company under the supervision of the Ministry of Economics of the Republic of Latvia, which acts as the national standards body of Latvia. SAMC – LVS (https://www.lvs.lv/en) and Latak (https://www.latak.gov.lv/).
For detailed information on standards for trade in the European Union please check European-Union-Trade-Standards.
Testing, Inspection and Certification
Conformity Assessment is a mandatory step for the manufacturer in the process of complying with specific EU legislation. The purpose of conformity assessment is to ensure consistency of compliance during all stages, from design to production, to facilitate acceptance of the final product. EU product legislation gives manufacturers some choice regarding conformity assessment, depending on the level of risk involved in the use of their product. These range from self-certification, type examination and production quality control systems, to full quality assurance systems.
You can find conformity assessment bodies for Latvia in the NANDO list prepared by the European Commission: European Commission - NANDO
Publication of Technical Regulations
National technical Regulations are published on the Commission’s website European Commission - Prevention of Technical Barriers to Trade to allow other countries and interested parties to comment.
Use ePing to review proposed technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures.
The ePing SPS&TBT platform (https://epingalert.org/), or “ePing”, provides access to notifications made by World Trade Organization (WTO) Members under the Agreements on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) and Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), distributed by the WTO from January 16, 1995 to present. ePing is available to all stakeholders free of charge and does not require registration unless the user wishes to receive customized e-mail alerts. Use it to browse notifications on past as well as new draft and updated product regulations, food safety and animal and plant health standards and regulations, find information on trade concerns discussed in the WTO SPS and TBT Committees, locate information on SPS/TBT Enquiry Points and notification authorities, and to follow and review current and past notifications concerning regulatory actions on products, packaging, labeling, food safety and animal and plant health measures in markets of interest.
Notify U.S., operated and maintained by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) since 2003 to distribute and provide access to notifications (and associated draft texts) made under the WTO TBT Agreement for US stakeholders, has reached its end of life. Per obligation under the TBT Agreement, each WTO Member operates a national TBT (and an SPS) Enquiry Point. National TBT Enquiry Points are authorized to accept comments and official communications from other national TBT Enquiry Points, which are NOT part of the WTO or the WTO Secretariat. All comment submissions from U.S. stakeholders, including businesses, trade associations, U.S domiciled standards development organizations and conformity assessment bodies, consumers, or U.S. government agencies on notifications to the WTO TBT Committee should be sent directly to the USA WTO TBT Inquiry Point. Refer to the comment guidance at https://tsapps.nist.gov/notifyus/data/guidance/guidance.cfm for further information. This guidance is provided to assist U.S. stakeholders in the preparation and submission of comments in response to notifications of proposed foreign technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures.
CE Mark: https://www.trade.gov/ce-marking
Contact Information
Standardization, Accreditation and Metrology Centre, Ltd. (SAMC)
Standardization Bureau Latvian Standard (LVS)
157, Kr. Valdemara Street
Riga, Latvia LV-1013
Tel: +371 20006833
E-mail: lvs@lvs.lv
State Agency “Latvian National Accreditation Bureau”
55, Brivibas Street
Riga, Latvia LV-1010
Tel: +371 67373051
E-mail: pasts@latak.gov.lv