Chapter VII, conformity of products and CE marking
Article 18: Rules and conditions for affixing the CE marking
CE marking goes on the product or data plate visibly, legibly and indelibly before placing on the market, or on the packaging and documents where that is not possible.
- Citation
- Article 18, CELEX 32019L0882 (Directive)
- Binds
- Manufacturers and member states.
- In the instrument
- Chapter VII, conformity of products and CE marking
- Applies from
- 28 June 2025 for products placed and services provided from that date (Article 31(2)). The Article 4(8) 112 duty may be deferred to 28 June 2027 where a member state uses Article 31(3).
- Source
- EUR-Lex, CELEX 32019L0882
What it requires
Paragraph 1 sets the placement rule. The mark goes on the product itself, or on its data plate, so that it can be seen, read and stays in place. Where the product's nature makes that impractical or unnecessary, it goes on the packaging and the accompanying documents.
Paragraph 2 fixes the timing: before the product is first supplied. Paragraph 3 requires member states to build on existing mechanisms to ensure the marking regime is correctly applied and to act where it is misused.
The practical question is usually the exception. A very small device, a disposable item or a product whose surface cannot carry a durable mark can use the packaging route, but the file should record why.
In practice
Photograph the mark on the first production unit and keep the photograph with the marking decision. The picture answers three questions at once: where the mark sits, whether it is legible at the expected viewing distance, and whether the surface can carry it durably. Where the packaging route is used, photograph the pack and the document too.
What to do
- Decide and record the marking location for each model.
- Check the mark is visible, legible and durable in foreseeable use.
- Affix before the first placing on the market.
- Record the reason where the packaging and document route is used.
Evidence to keep
- The marking location decision and a sample photograph.
- The durability test or material specification.
- The placing-on-market date that precedes the first supply.
- The packaging and document artwork where the exception applies.
Dates
- 2025-06-28The marking must be in place before products are placed from this date. (Article 18(2), Article 31(2))
Cross-references
Where teams get this wrong
A mark applied to the shipping carton only, when the product itself could carry it, does not meet the rule. The exception is for cases where the product genuinely cannot take the mark.
Read from the Official Journal text of Directive (EU) 2019/882, OJ L 151/70, 7 June 2019, Article 18. Check it yourself: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32019L0882. This page states the provision in our own words and is not legal advice; it does not certify any product or service.