Machinery Directive compliance for the Ukrainian market

Ukraine has adopted technical regulations corresponding to the European machinery rules. The practical consequence for a company importing and selling equipment is a set of specific obligations, and they attach to the importer rather than only to the manufacturer.

What the manufacturer does

Carries out a risk assessment, designs to the harmonised standards, compiles a technical file, issues a declaration of conformity and applies the marking.

For higher-risk machinery categories a notified body must be involved rather than the manufacturer self-declaring.

What the importer must hold and do

Verify that the manufacturer has done the above, before placing the machine on the market. An importer who sells non-compliant equipment is liable, and does not have the defence that the manufacturer said it was fine.

Hold a copy of the declaration of conformity and be able to produce it on request.

Be able to obtain the technical file from the manufacturer if an authority asks for it.

Ensure the instructions are supplied in the state language, which is a legal requirement and the most commonly missed one.

And keep records identifying who supplied the machine and to whom it was sold, so that a defective batch can be traced.

What goes wrong in practice

A declaration referencing a superseded standard. Instructions in the manufacturer's language only. A marking applied without a declaration behind it. And used machinery imported without anyone considering that placing it on the market again triggers the obligations afresh.

The practical advice

Ask for the declaration and the standards list at quotation stage, not at delivery. A supplier who cannot provide them quickly is telling you something about the file.

This is my own obligation and I know by heart what has to be in the file: the declaration of conformity, the technical file, the test reports and the operating instructions in the state language. In practice the last is what is missing most often — the translation is what an importer forgets and an inspector asks for first. My advice is simple: complete the file before customs, not after.