
Marine equipment of a safety, or anti-pollution nature (such as lifejackets, fire extinguishers, oily water separators and ships’ radios and radars) installed onboard UK vessels must meet performance and testing standards to ensure it functions as required. Equipment required according to International Maritime Organisation (IMO) conventions is to be of an approved type and in the European Union (EU), this is achieved through Council Directive 96/98/EC2, otherwise known as the Marine Equipment Directive (MED).
Difficulties have been observed in implementing the MED Directive, particularly regarding protection of the EU market against non-compliant and fraudulent equipment and the communication of the applicable testing standards for equipment within the scope of the MED.
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