Low Voltage Equipment (LVE)

Disclaimer: This document serves informational purposes only, does not constitute legal advice, and is no substitute for advice from legal counsel. It remains your sole responsibility to comply with the LVE regulations and other contractual obligations towards Amazon. Any mention of LVE provisions in this document is for ease of reference only. Amazon does not provide any warranties about the completeness and correctness of these provisions or any other information in this document, and assumes no responsibility for any use of or reliance on this document

The Emirates Standardization and Metrology Authority (ESMA) is a certified body of the GCC Standardization Organization (GSO) that is responsible for enforcing GSO regulations in the UAE by implementing ECAS Technical Regulations for Low Voltage Electrical Equipment (LVE). The ECAS sets requirements relating to electrical equipment designed for use within certain voltage limits to provide a high level of protection of health and safety of persons, and of domestic animals and property. These include safety objectives for the design and manufacture of electrical equipment, labeling requirements, and applicable conformity assessment procedures. The LVE also sets obligations on manufacturers, importers and distributors.

You must comply with LVE requirements if you manufacture, import or distribute electrical equipment designed for use within certain voltage ranges.

What products does the LVE apply to?

The LVE applies to electrical equipment designed for use with a voltage rating of between 50 and 1,000 volts (V) for alternating current (AC), and between 75 and 1,500 V for direct current (DC). There are some types of electrical equipment and phenomena that are outside of the scope of the LVE (for example, plugs and socket outlets for domestic use).

Examples of electrical equipment covered by the LVE are household appliances, extension cords and adapters, and grass shears/trimmers.

What LVE products are currently enforced under LVE regulation?

The GSO has released the following list of products to be regulated under LVE:

• Domestic electrical fans
• Refrigerators, freezers, and other refrigerating or freezing equipment
• Centrifugal clothes dryers and clothes washing machines, including machines which both wash and dry
• Electro-thermic hair-dressing apparatus and hand dryers
• Domestic electric heating apparatus, ovens, and microwave ovens
• Other ovens such as cookers, cooking plates, boiling rings, grills, and roasters
• Electric instantaneous or storage water heaters and immersion heaters
• Electric smoothing
• Plugs, socket outlets, adaptors, cord extension sets, and chargers
• Air conditioners

Who has obligations under the LVE?

The LVE sets out obligations for manufacturers, authorized representatives, importers and distributors of electrical equipment.

• You are a manufacturer if you manufacture electrical equipment yourself or have electrical equipment designed and manufactured and market it under your name or trademark.
• You are an authorized representative if an electrical equipment manufacturer has given you a written mandate to act on their behalf in relation to specific tasks.
• You are an importer if you are established in the UAE and you sell electrical equipment from outside the UAE into the UAE.
• You are a distributor if you make electrical equipment available for sale or supply but are not a manufacturer or importer.

How are manufacturers and importers affected by the LVE?

The manufacturer/importer is obliged to ensure that the product manufactured and placed onto the market meets the requirements of the Low Voltage regulation.

The Manufacturer/Importer shall:

• Establish technical documentation for each model or range of product.
• Draw up a Manufacturers/Importers Declaration of Conformity (DoC).
• Be or contract a registered authorized agent (Importers Certificate of Registration in the UAE).
• Specify address of the place of manufacture and storage of the product.
• Provide a list of the UAE.S or IEC standards applied in full or in part.

Once all of these requirements have been satisfied and the product has been registered in the electronic registration system, the manufacturer can affix the proper Emirates Quality Mark (EQM), if applicable.

How are distributors affected by the LVE?

Distributors are required to exercise due care in relation to selling electrical equipment in the UAE. This can include verifying that the equipment bears the G-Mark and that the equipment is accompanied with appropriate documents for end users.

What should you do if electrical equipment is not in conformity with the LVE?

Manufacturers, importers and distributors should immediately take corrective measures to bring electrical equipment into conformity, or to withdraw or recall it, as appropriate.

Where the electrical equipment presents a risk, manufacturers, importers and distributors should immediately inform the competent national authorities of the member states where it was sold, giving details, in particular, of the non-conformity and of corrective measures taken.

Manufacturers, importers and distributors should, upon request, provide a competent national authority with information and documentation, in paper or electronic form, necessary to demonstrate conformity of the electrical equipment with the LVE.