market access market access MAY/09/JUNE

market access
Product Safety
maY/09/juNe
TÜVRheinland ® GS S1 Certificate Provides Passport to the European Market (continued)
has grown to 60,000 and about 80% of GS marked products
carry CE marking, a trend in opposition to other
marks in the EU.
For those not familiar with the GS Mark, it is a voluntary
test mark that proves an accredited third party has
evaluated, tested and certified the product for electrical
safety. In German, GS stands for “Geprüfte Sicherheit,”
which in English stands for “safety-tested” and underscores
the major draw of the GS Mark to a wide range
of stakeholders throughout Western Europe.
Introduced in 1977, the GS Mark is based on the
“German Equipment Safety Law” (Geräte – und
Produktsicherheitsgesetz), otherwise known as
GPSG for short. The GS Mark was created to meet the
demands of industries, importers, distributors, tradehouses,
public insurance and consumer organizations
in Germany. It verifies that a technical product
complies with the safety requirements of the GPSG.
To attain the GS Mark, many product attributes are
examined including electrical safety, ergonomic
correctness and chemical hazards from polymeric
materials. To keep the GS mark, the law also demands
frequent checks (usually annually or every two years,
depending upon the certificate) to ensure the manufacturer
has maintained a continuous control on
production.
the marketability of the gs mark
Because it is a voluntary mark, the GS Mark provides
a distinct marketing advantage to the manufacturer.
Studies have shown that consumers make purchasing
decisions based on the presence of the GS mark on the
product’s label.
Although the GS Mark was originated in Germany, it
is in fact a mark that is accepted in multiple Western
European countries. In the past decade, members of the
European Union have become accustomed to seeing
ConTInUEd on PAgE 9
the mark on consumer products, and now this mark
continues to appear on a large number of electronic
products and machinery sold elsewhere in the world.
In comparison to the CE Marking, one difference is
startlingly clear: the safety characteristic of the GS
Mark is well understood by consumers throughout
Western Europe and has made it a primary selling point
at the point of purchase.
In today’s market, consumers are offered a dizzying array
of product choices – often given little more than a price
point or brand recognition to help make a purchasing
decision. Because of this, many products can seem like
“peas in a pod”. Undoubtedly, consumers want more
criteria when making their final buying decision and
without being the product’s design or manufacturing
engineer, it is impossible for consumers to instinctively
determine the “inner values” of a device.