Council Directive 96/98/EC on marine equipment

The aim of this Directive shall be to enhance safety at sea and the prevention of marine pollution. It pursues the uniform application of the relevant international instruments relating to equipment listed in Annex A to be placed on board ships for which safety certificates are issued by or on behalf of Member States. The provisions hereby established shall apply to new Community ships and to existing ships under the circumstances referred to in article 3. On the other side, they shall not apply to equipment which on the date of the entry into force of this Directive has already been placed on board a ship. Article 10 indicates the different types of conformity procedures to be carried out. Details of such procedures are listed in Annex B. Equipment referred to in Annex A.1 which complies with the relevant international instruments and is manufactured in accordance with the conformity assessment procedures shall have the mark affixed to it by the manufacturer or his authorized representative established within the Community (art. 11).