Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2020/668

of 18 May 2020

on the harmonised standards for personal protective equipment drafted in support of Regulation (EU) 2016/425 of the European Parliament and of the Council

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012 on European standardisation, amending Council Directives 89/686/EEC and 93/15/EEC and Directives 94/9/EC, 94/25/EC, 95/16/EC, 97/23/EC, 98/34/EC, 2004/22/EC, 2007/23/EC, 2009/23/EC and 2009/105/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and repealing Council Decision 87/95/EEC and Decision No 1673/2006/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council1, and in particular Article 10(6) thereof,

Whereas:

(1)
In accordance with Article 14 of Regulation (EU) 2016/425 of the European Parliament and of the Council2, personal protective equipment that is in conformity with harmonised standards or parts thereof, the references of which have been published in the Official Journal of the European Union, is to be presumed to be in conformity with the essential health and safety requirements set out in Annex II to that Regulation covered by those standards or parts thereof.
(2)
By letter M/031, entitled ‘STANDARDISATION MANDATE TO CEN/CENELEC CONCERNING STANDARDS FOR PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT’, the Commission made a request to the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) and the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (Cenelec) to develop and draw up harmonised standards in support of Council Directive 89/686/EEC3.
(3)

Directive 89/686/EEC was replaced by Regulation (EU) 2016/425 as from 21 April 2018, which brought only a limited number of changes to the essential health and safety requirements set out in Annex II to Directive 89/686/EEC. The harmonised standards drafted on the basis of request M/031 have been drafted exclusively in support of essential health and safety requirements, which have remained substantially unchanged following the replacement of Directive 89/686/EEC by Regulation (EU) 2016/425.

(4)

On the basis of the request M/031, CEN and Cenelec drafted the following harmonised standards: EN 893:2019 on mountaineering equipment, EN 943-2:2019 on protective clothing against dangerous solid, liquid and gaseous chemicals, EN 1073-1:2016+A1:2018 on protective clothing against solid airborne particles including radioactive contamination and EN 14458:2018 on personal eye-equipment, in support of Regulation (EU) 2016/425.

(5)
On the basis of the request M/031, CEN and Cenelec revised harmonised standards EN 343:2003+A1:2007/AC:2009, EN 358:1999, EN 381-5:1995, EN 381-7:1999, EN 381-9:1997, EN 381-11:2002, EN 13832-2:2006, EN 13832-3:2006, EN 14594:2005, EN 388:2016, EN 943-1:2015 and EN 12277:2015, the references of which are published in the C series of the Official Journal of the European Union 4. This resulted in adoption of, respectively, harmonised standards EN 343:2019 for protective clothing against rain, EN 358:2018 for belts and lanyards for work positioning or restraint, EN ISO 11393-2:2019, EN ISO 11393-4:2019, EN ISO 11393-5:2019 and EN ISO 11393-6:2019 for protective clothing for users of hand-held chainsaws, EN 13832-2:2018 and EN 13832-3:2018 for footwear protecting against chemicals, EN 14594:2018 for respiratory protective devices, EN 388:2016+A1:2018 for protective gloves against mechanical risks, EN 943-1:2015+A1:2019 for protective clothing against dangerous solid, liquid and gaseous chemicals, including liquid and solid aerosols and EN 12277:2015+A1:2018 for mountaineering equipment.
(6)
On the basis of request M/031, CEN and Cenelec amended harmonised standard EN ISO 10819:2013, the reference of which is published in the C series of the Official Journal of the European Union 5. This resulted in adoption of an amendment to that harmonised standard, EN ISO 10819:2013/A1:2019.
(7)

The Commission together with CEN and Cenelec has assessed whether those standards comply with the request M/031.

(8)

The harmonised standards EN 893:2019, EN 943-2:2019, EN 1073-1:2016+A1:2018, EN 14458:2018, EN 343:2019, EN 358:2018, EN ISO 11393-2:2019, EN ISO 11393-4:2019, EN ISO 11393-5:2019, EN ISO 11393-6:2019, EN 13832-2:2018, EN 13832-3:2018, EN 14594:2018, EN 388:2016+A1:2018, EN 943-1:2015+A1:2019, EN ISO 10819:2013 as amended by EN ISO 10819:2013/A1:2019, and EN 12277:2015+A1:2018 satisfy the requirements which they aim to cover and which are set out in Regulation (EU) 2016/425. It is therefore appropriate to publish the references of those standards in the Official Journal of the European Union.

(9)
CEN and Cenelec also drafted corrigendum EN 50321-1:2018/AC: 2018-08 correcting harmonised standard EN 50321-1:2018, the reference of which is published in the C series of the Official Journal of the European Union 6. Due to the fact that this corrigendum introduces technical corrections and in order to ensure correct and consistent application of harmonised standard EN 50321-1:2018, the reference of which was previously published, it is appropriate to publish the reference of this harmonised standard together with the reference of the corrigendum in the Official Journal of the European Union.
(10)

It is therefore necessary to withdraw the references of harmonised standards EN 343:2003+A1:2007/AC:2009, EN 358:1999, EN 381-5:1995, EN 381-7:1999, EN 381-9:1997, EN 381-11:2002, EN 13832-2:2006, EN 13832-3:2006, EN 14594:2005, EN 388:2016, EN 943-1:2015, EN ISO 10819:2013, EN 12277:2015 and EN 50321-1:2018, from the C series of the Official Journal of the European Union, given that those standards have been revised, amended or corrected. In order to give manufacturers more time to prepare for applying harmonised standards EN 343:2019 EN 358:2018, EN ISO 11393-2:2019, EN ISO 11393-4:2019, EN ISO 11393-5:2019, EN ISO 11393-6:2019, EN 13832-2:2018, EN 13832-3:2018, EN 14594:2018, EN 388:2016+A1:2018, EN 943-1:2015+A1:2019, EN ISO 10819:2013 as amended by EN ISO 10819:2013/A1:2019, EN 50321-1:2018 as corrected by EN 50321-1:2018/AC: 2018-08, and EN 12277:2015+A1:2018, it is necessary to defer the withdrawal of the references of harmonised standards EN 343:2003+A1:2007/AC:2009, EN 358:1999, EN 381-5:1995, EN 381-7:1999, EN 381-9:1997, EN 381-11:2002, EN 13832-2:2006, EN 13832-3:2006, EN 14594:2005, EN 388:2016, EN 943-1:2015, EN ISO 10819:2013, EN 12277:2015 and EN 50321-1:2018.

(11)

Compliance with a harmonised standard confers a presumption of conformity with the corresponding essential requirements set out in Union harmonisation legislation from the date of publication of the reference of such standard in the Official Journal of the European Union. This Decision should therefore enter into force on the day of its publication,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION: