The practical enforcement of the Regulation EU 2016/425 and the application of European Standards by notified bodies require an exchange of experience between notified bodies. The European Coordination of Notified Bodies for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is aimed at forming a platform for discussion on a horizontal (general) as well as vertical (PPE-specific) level, and offering advice to all parties involved. It consists of a Horizontal Committee, an Ad Hoc Group and Vertical Groups.
Read moreThose ‘Recommendations for Use’ sheets published on this website reflect the status of horizontal Recommendation for Use sheets following the PPE Regulation which are approved by the Horizontal Committee members in the meetings. The RFU’s are not approved by the PPE Expert Group yet.
PPE Expert Group
The secretary of the Horizontal Committee submits the approved horizontal RFU’s to the PPE Expert Group for approval. In the meeting of the PPE Expert Group the members can approve the RFU’s. The approved RFU’s will be published on the website: http://ec.europa.eu/growth/sectors/mechanical-engineering/personal-protective-equipment/
It is also possible that in the meeting of the PPE Expert Group the members will not approve the RFU’s because there are comments. Then the PPE Expert Group will start the written procedure. In the written procedure each member of the PPE Expert Group will be able to provide comments within a time period. The approved RFU’s will be published on the website: http://ec.europa.eu/growth/sectors/mechanical-engineering/personal-protective-equipment/
After approval of the horizontal RFU’s by the PPE Expert Group and publication on the website, the horizontal RFU’s will be deleted from the website: ppe-rfu.eu
Written procedure
On 30 August 2021 a set of RFU’s transmitted by the European Coordination of Notified Bodies for PPE has been submitted to the written procedure for endorsement in the relevant CIRCABC folder.
This exercise concerns five groups of RfUs for the PPE Regulation:
The latest date to provide comments is 30 November 2021. The original deadline is extended till 28 February 2022. If no comments are provided, the RfUs will be considered as endorsed at that date and published on the Commission’s sectoral website on PPE. Otherwise, the comments will be taken into account in the Oral Procedure in the PPE Expert Group and the concerned parties.
Depending on the priority of current issues Vertical Groups hold regular meetings, at least once a year. The solutions on technical issues are prepared under the form of ‘Recommendations for Use’ sheets which are submitted to the Horizontal Committee and then to the PPE Expert Group for endorsement.
Those ‘Recommendations for Use’ sheets published on this website reflect the status of vertical Recommendation for Use sheets following the PPE Regulation which are approved by the Horizontal Committee members. The RFU’s are not approved by the PPE Expert Group yet.
PPE Expert Group
The secretary of the Horizontal Committee submits the approved vertical RFU’s to the PPE Expert Group for endorsement. In the meeting of the PPE Expert Group the members can approve the RFU’s. The endorsed RFU’s will be published on the website: http://ec.europa.eu/growth/sectors/mechanical-engineering/personal-protective-equipment/
After approval of the vertical RFU’s by the PPE Expert Group and publication on the website, the vertical RFU’s will be deleted from the website: ppe-rfu.eu
VG 2 ‘Respiratory protective devices’ has written a Recommendation for Use sheet based on EN 149 ‘Respiratory protective devices – Filtering half masks to protect against particles – Requirements, testing, marking’.
This RfU defines a technical solution for testing SARS-CoV-2 related masks for a limited period of time. The goal of this RfU is to determine the minimum requirements to certify a filtering half mask against SARS-CoV-2 and to reduce the necessary time for tests and certification to match the continuously increasing demand.
VG 3 ‘Eye and Face Protection’ has written a Recommendation for Use sheet based on EN 166 ‘Personal eye-protection – Specifications’ has been developed.
This RfU defines a technical solution for testing SARS-CoV-2 related face shields for a limited period of time. The goal of this RfU is to determine the minimum requirements to certify the face shields against SARS-CoV-2 and to reduce the necessary time for tests and certification to match the continuously increasing demand.
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