Ireland Country Commercial Guide
Learn about the market conditions, opportunities, regulations, and business conditions in ireland, prepared by at U.S. Embassies worldwide by Commerce Department, State Department and other U.S. agencies’ professionals
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Trade Standards
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Overview

NSAI (National Standards Authority of Ireland) is Ireland’s official standards body. NSAI is accountable to the Minister for Business, Employment and Retail at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment.  It is responsible for the development of Irish Standards, representing Irish interests in the work of the European and International standards bodies CEN/CENELEC and ISO/IEC, and for the publication and sale of Irish Standards.

NSAI represents Ireland in European and international standards and measurement bodies to develop consistent international written standards and measurements, which can help ensure fair trade. As Ireland’s National Standards Body, NSAI is obliged to comply the EU Regulation on Standardisation, Regulation 1025/2012. As a member of CEN and CENELEC, NSAI Standards is obliged to meet the membership requirements of those organizations. The NSAI Standards Quality Management System, which is ISO 9001 compliant, incorporates measures which ensure compliance with EU Regulation 1025/2012 and CEN CENELEC membership criteria.

Standards

Products tested and certified in the United States by U. S. regulations to U. S. standards are likely to have to be retested and re-certified to EU requirements as a result of the European Union’s differing approach to the protection of the health and safety of consumers and the environment. Where products are not regulated by specific EU technical legislation, they are always subject to the General Product Safety Directive as well as to possible additional national requirements. 

While harmonization of EU legislation can facilitate access to the EU Single Market, manufacturers should be aware that regulations, which are mandatory, and technical standards, which are voluntary, might also function as barriers to trade when U. S. standards differ from those of the European Union, which is often the case. For more on how the EU standards and regulatory system functions as a barrier to trade, consult the European Union section in the USTR’s 2025 National Trade Estimate Report. 

In general, the harmonization of EU standards has greatly simplified technical regulations amongst Member States. Prior to harmonization, each country in the European Union developed its own standards through their national standards body, leading to differing and conflicting standards, laws, and conformity assessment procedures. Thus, it became necessary to create a new, integrated, European system of standardization. The new system provided for three EU standards bodies to create standards on a Europe-wide level: the European Committee for Standardization (CEN), the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC), and the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI). For further insight into EU standards, please consult the European Union Country Commercial Guide. 

Testing, Inspection and Certification

Conformity Assessment

Conformity Assessment is the demonstration that specified requirements relating to a product, process, system, or group are fulfilled. Conformity assessment can include: the supplier’s declaration of conformity, different types of sampling and testing, inspection, certification, management system assessment and registration, the accreditation of the competence of those activities, and the recognition of an accreditation program’s capability. Conformity Assessment is a mandatory step for the manufacturer in the process of complying with specific EU harmonized legislation. As mentioned in labeling documentation section, EU harmonized product legislation gives manufacturers some choice regarding conformity assessment, depending on the level of risk involved in the use of their product. 

Certification for defined lesser risk products can be done by the manufacturers themselves by building a technical file in many cases. Higher risk products will need third party testing through accredited testing labs. Types of compliance certification range from self-certification, type examination, production quality control system certification to full quality assurance system certification. In the case of CE Mark directives or regulations, each directive or regulation stipulates the processes which can be used for which products. This is usually found in an annex and called a module. 
Modules vary in complexity. For example, Module A permits the manufacturer to assume total responsibility for conformity assessment. If the product is manufactured to Harmonized Standards, and if the risk is not unusually high (as in most machinery, for example), the manufacturer may rely on internal manufacturing checks. The manufacturer would compile a technical file, issue a Declaration of Conformity to the appropriate directives, and if appropriate, apply the CE marking, and places the product on the market. Modules for higher risk products, for example, a medical device, could call for a type-examination of the product and a production quality assurance system that conforms to the standard or a complete quality management system and conforms to accepted standards (e. g. , ISO 9001 or EN 29001). 

These modules may call for the involvement of third-party testing and assessment for a Declaration of Conformity. In the European Union, these third parties are designated by Member States’ authorities, accepted by the European Commission, and are called Notified Bodies. Each directive provides the module choices available, but there are no choices beyond the modules specified. 

When third party testing is required, that testing must be done by accredited member state organizations called Notified Bodies, which must be domiciled in a Member State. The official list of approved Notified Bodies for each EU harmonized directive or regulation is found on the New Approach Notified and Designated Organizations (NANDO) Information System page on the EU Commission website. 

The only exceptions to this EU-domiciled rule are U. S. -based organizations and test labs for products covered under U. S. -EU mutual recognition agreements for certain types of marine equipment, products under the electromagnetic compatibility mutual recognition agreement, and the radio equipment mutual recognition agreement. 
In addition, to promote market acceptance for products in the European Union, there are several voluntary conformity assessment programs. CEN and CENELEC’s certification system are known as the Keymark. ETSI does not offer conformity assessment services. 

Accreditation

Independent test and certification laboratories, known as notified bodies, have been officially accredited by competent national authorities to test and certify to EU requirements. European Accreditation is an organization representing nationally recognized accreditation bodies. Membership is open to nationally recognized accreditation bodies in countries in the European geographical area that can demonstrate that they operate an accreditation system compatible to appropriate EN and ISO/IEC standards. 

Publication of Technical Regulations

The Official Journal of the EU is the official publication of the European Union. It is published daily on the internet and consists of two series covering adopted legislation as well as case law, studies by committees. It also lists the standards reference numbers linked to legislation (Harmonized Standards). National technical regulations are published on the Commission’s website to allow other countries and interested parties to comment. 

The ePing SPS&TBT platform (https://epingalert. org/), or “ePing”, provides access to notifications made by Members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) under the Agreements on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) and Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), distributed by the WTO from January 16, 1995, to present. ePing is available to all stakeholders free of charge and is a versatile tool that can be used to:  

  • Follow and review current and past notifications concerning regulatory actions on products, packaging, labeling, food safety and animal and plant health measures in markets of interest,
  • Receive customized e-mail alerts when new notifications are distributed,
  • Find information on trade concerns discussed in the WTO SPS and TBT Committees. 
     

Per obligation under the TBT Agreement, each WTO Member operates an Enquiry Point. National TBT Enquiry Points are authorized to accept comments and official communications from other national TBT Enquiry Points, which are NOT part of the WTO or the WTO Secretariat. All comment submissions from U. S. stakeholders, including businesses, trade associations, U. S domiciled standards development organizations and conformity assessment bodies, consumers, or U. S. government agencies on notifications to the WTO TBT Committee should be sent directly to the USA WTO TBT Enquiry Point. Refer to the comment guidance at https://www. nist. gov/notifyus/commenting for further information. This guidance is provided to assist U. S. stakeholders in the preparation and submission of comments in response to notifications of proposed foreign technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures. 
 

Contact Information 

National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI)
1 Swift Square, Northwood
Santry, Dublin 9, Ireland
Tel: +353.1.807.3800

U.S. Commercial Service Ireland
Finola Cunningham, Senior Commercial Representative
Finola.Cunningham@trade.gov

Agricultural Standards

The establishment of harmonized EU rules and standards in the food sector has been ongoing for several decades, and the EU publicized a law establishing the general principles of EU food law in January of 2002. This Regulation introduced mandatory traceability throughout the feed and food chain as of Jan 1, 2005. For specific information on agricultural standards, please refer to the Foreign Agricultural Service’s website. There are also export guides to import regulations and standards available on the Foreign Agricultural Service’s website

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Global Business Navigator Chatbot Beta

Welcome to the Global Business Navigator, an artificial intelligence (AI) Chatbot from the International Trade Administration (ITA). This tool, currently in beta version testing, is designed to provide general information on the exporting process and the resources available to assist new and experienced U.S. exporters. The Chatbot, developed using Microsoft’s Azure AI services, is trained on ITA’s export-related content and aims to quickly get users the information they need. The Chatbot is intended to make the benefits of exporting more accessible by understanding non-expert language, idiomatic expressions, and foreign languages.

Limitations

As a beta product, the Chatbot is currently being tested and its responses may occasionally produce inaccurate or incomplete information. The Chatbot is trained to decline out of scope or inappropriate requests. The Chatbot’s knowledge is limited to the public information on the Export Solutions web pages of Trade.gov, which covers a wide range of topics on exporting. While it cannot provide responses specific to a company’s product or a specific foreign market, its reference pages will guide you to other relevant government resources and market research. Always double-check the Chatbot’s responses using the provided references or by visiting the Export Solutions web pages on Trade.gov. Do not use its responses as legal or professional advice. Inaccurate advice from the Chatbot would not be a defense to violating any export rules or regulations.

Privacy

The Chatbot does not collect information about users and does not use the contents of users’ chat history to learn new information. All feedback is anonymous. Please do not enter personally identifiable information (PII), sensitive, or proprietary information into the Chatbot. Your conversations will not be connected to other interactions or accounts with ITA. Conversations with the Chatbot may be reviewed to help ITA improve the tool and address harmful, illegal, or otherwise inappropriate questions.

Translation

The Chatbot supports a wide range of languages. Because the Chatbot is trained in English and responses are translated, you should verify the translation. For example, the Chatbot may have difficulty with acronyms, abbreviations, and nuances in a language other than English.

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