Describes the country's standards landscape, identifies the national standards and accreditation bodies, and lists the main national testing organization(s) and conformity assessment bodies.
Last Published: 8/16/2019

Overview

The Netherlands observes around 2,000 Dutch national standards, 6,000 EU standards, and 9,000 international standards.  As a member of the EU, the Netherlands applies the EU’s product standards and certification approval processes.  The Treaty of Rome requires all EU members to incorporate approved EU directives into its national laws.  To establish common standards for all member countries, the EU regulates key product areas to protect the health and safety of consumers, as well as the environment.

A manufacturer or representative must place a CE mark on all regulated products before the goods can be sold in the Netherlands.  The applicable product testing and certification requirements for individual product categories are specified in the various EU Directives.  The CE mark relates only to the mandatory health, safety, and environmental requirements established by the EU.  It does not indicate conformity to European product standards.  National marks of conformity with product standards remain compatible with the CE mark and both marks may be applied to the product.  For the regulated products, the CE mark replaces all national safety marks.

The international quality standard ISO 9000 is widely used.

NIST Notify U.S. Service

Member countries of the World Trade Organization (WTO) are required under the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT Agreement) to report to the WTO all proposed technical regulations that could affect trade with other member countries.

Notify U.S. is a free, web-based e-mail subscription service that offers an opportunity to review and comment on proposed foreign technical regulations that can affect access to international markets.  Register online at the Notify U.S. website.


Conformity Assessment

Conformity Assessment is a mandatory step for the manufacturer in the process of complying with specific EU legislation.  The purpose of a 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 product’s use.  These range from self-certification, type examination, and production quality control system, to a full quality assurance system.  Conformity assessment bodies in individual member states are listed in NANDO on the European Commission’s website.


Product Certification

To sell products in the Netherlands, U.S. exporters are required to apply the CE marking whenever their product is covered by specific product legislation.  CE marking product legislation offers manufacturers many choices and requires decisions to determine which safety/health concerns need to be addressed, which conformity assessment module is best suited to the manufacturing process, and whether to use EU-wide harmonized standards.

Products manufactured to standards adopted by CEN, CENELEC, or ETSI, and referenced in the Official Journal as harmonized standards, are presumed to conform to the requirements of EU directives.  The manufacturer then applies the CE marking and issues a declaration of conformity.  With these, the product will be allowed to circulate freely within the EU.  A manufacturer can choose not to use the harmonized EU standards, but then must demonstrate that the product meets the essential safety and performance requirements.  Trade barriers occur when the relevant European standardization organization develops design standards rather than performance standards, and when U.S. companies through a European presence do not have access to the standardization process.

CE marking primarily addresses the national control authorities of the member states, and its use simplifies their task of essential market surveillance of regulated products.  The EU’s “New Legislative Framework,” which went into force in 2010, is a blueprint for all CE marking legislation, harmonizing definitions, responsibilities, European accreditation, and market surveillance.

CE marking is not intended to include detailed technical information of the product, but there must be sufficient information to enable the inspector to trace the product back to either the manufacturer or the local contact established in the EU.  This detailed information should not appear next to the CE marking, but rather on the declaration of conformity (which the manufacturer or authorized agent must be able to provide at any time along with the product's technical file), or the documents accompanying the product.


Accreditation

The Dutch accreditation body is the “Raad voor Accreditatie” (RvA).  RvA’s primary task is to accredit and renew accreditations of all Dutch conformity-assessment bodies (laboratories, inspection bodies, certification bodies, and verification bodies).  A searchable filtered list of all Accredited Bodies in the Netherlands can be found at the RVA website.


Dutch Accreditation Body Contact Information

RVA
Raad voor Accreditatie
P.O. Box 2768
Daalseplein 101
3500 GT UTRECHT
Telephone: + 31 30 239 4504
Email:  contact@rva.nl
RVA Website
Email:  jan.vander.poel@rva.nl


Publication of technical regulations

The Official Journal is the official publication of the European Union.  It is published daily on the internet and consists of two series covering adopted legislation as well as case law, studies by committees, and more.  The Official Journal can be found on the ‘EUR-Lex’ website.

National Technical Regulations are published on the Commission’s website to allow other countries and interested parties to comment.

Members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) are required under the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT Agreement) to notify to the WTO proposed technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures that could affect trade.  Notify U.S. is a free, web-based e-mail registration service that captures and makes available for review and comment key information on draft regulations and conformity assessment procedures.  Users receive customized e-mail alerts when new notifications are added by selected country(ies) and industry sector(s) of interest, and can also request full texts of regulations.  This service and its associated web site are managed and operated by the USA WTO TBT Inquiry Point housed within the National Institute of Standards and Technology, part of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Prepared by our U.S. Embassies abroad. With its network of 108 offices across the United States and in more than 75 countries, the U.S. Commercial Service of the U.S. Department of Commerce utilizes its global presence and international marketing expertise to help U.S. companies sell their products and services worldwide. Locate the U.S. Commercial Service trade specialist in the U.S. nearest you by visiting http://export.gov/usoffices.