Technical Rules & Standards - vdma.eu

China unveils its 2025–2030 blueprint to digitize the machinery industry: Accelerating smart factories, intelligent equipment, and AI-driven services. What this means for mechanical engineering.

48 mandatory standards and 764 voluntary standards were approved in the past two months.

Mandatory standard drafts are released for comments.

TSG 31-2025 Safety Technology Regulation for Industrial Pressure Pipe will come into force on 01.01.2026.

The mandatory standard GB 46038-2025 will come into effect on 01.11.2026.

The implementation timeline for standards related to China RoHS conformity assessment has been issued.

The CCC exemption system has launched pilot programs for a fast track.

Accreditation in Germany and Europe is at a turning point. Structural, regulatory, and strategic adjustments are necessary to maintain a competitive Europe.

Some may already have heard of the 10²³ FLOP rule for classifying AI as “General Purpose AI”, but how does this actually work? Here we provide answers.

Within the VDMA, hydrogen is not only of great interest for the VDMA Power-to-X for Applications, but is accompanied by a whole range of areas with diverse activities.

The HAS-System (Harmonised Standards Assessment System) forms the basis for the European Commission to confirm the suitability of a Harmonised Standard for presumption of conformity. Unfortunately, the system has weaknesses and requires corrections.

Since 2017, the European Commission has anchored Common Specifications as an alternative to harmonised standards for presumption of conformity in the Medical Devices Regulation. Now, it is applying this instrument across the board

112 mandatory standards/Amendments, 1184 voluntary standards/Amendments and 88 translated standards in English were approved.

A series of mandatory standard drafts are released for comments.

17 Implementation Rules for Product Carbon Footprint Certification (Trial) were approved.

GB/T 20850-2025 updates the guidelines for the application of machinery safety standards in China.

Cage three-phase high voltage induction motor is added into the Catalogue for China Energy Label.

Domestic products will enjoy 20% price preference in government procurement evaluations.

You are planning to use AI in your machine – but when does your system fall into the ‘high-risk category’ of the AI Regulation? Our guide will help you answer this question step by step.

The Digital Product Passport is coming and mechanical engineering will also be affected. In the following, you can find out how mechanical and plant engineering can be directly and indirectly affected by some example scenarios.

The EU internal market for products is regulated by the NLF and its 30 harmonised legal acts. The European Commission is currently planning to revise the NLF. For this to be successful, the focus must be on simplification.

62 mandatory standards/Amendments, 697 voluntary standards/Amendments and 73 translated standards were approved in the past two months.

Drafts of mandatory standards and regulations are released for comments.

The Catalogue for Product Carbon Footprint Labeling Certification (1st Batch) and the 2025 National Task List for Industrial Energy Saving and Carbon Reduction Diagnostic Services were released.

The Catalogue of Technologies Prohibited or Controlled for Export from China was updated and approved.

The China Machinery Industry Federation (CMIF) released the 2025 Key Points for Standardization in the Machinery Industry.

The Chinese Standard Platform enables users to search for Chinese standards and preview some of the full text.

The revised VDMA Quick Guide to the Machinery Directive is now available in five languages. The VDMA is thus continuing to drive forward Europeanization.

The forthcoming standard prEN 50742 specifies the requirements of the Machinery Regulation regarding protection against corruption. What is the current status of this project?

Legislators must not ignore the reality of everyday industrial life, and this also applies to the EU Commission's Chemicals Action Plan.

Why standardization is becoming a key factor for the safe and successful use of hydrogen technologies.

Here you will find an updated overview of the progress of the project after the third face-to-face meeting on 12.03.202 (update no. 4).

29 mandatory standards/Amendments and 297 voluntary standards/Amendments were approved in the past two months.

A series of mandatory standard drafts are released for comments.

2025 Chinese Legislative Work Plan was released. The Product Quality Law was not listed.

The Chinese Administrative Measures for the Adoption of International Standards has been revised to promote the adoption of international standards.

The first humanoid robot certification in China is underway.

The EU Commission is planning a regulation to introduce a mandatory digital EU Declaration of Conformity for machinery. This amendment is intended to change the EU Regulation Machinery before it comes into force.

A harmonized information model drastically reduces the integration effort for a higher-level system. This supports the development of additive manufacturing into a fully-fledged production technology

The amendment to the German Federal Emission Protection Ordinance (4th BImSchV) by the German legislator brings clarity and relief both for the placing on the market of smaller electrolysers below 5 MW and for large-scale plants.

11 mandatory standards and 557 voluntary standards were approved in the past two months.

A series of mandatory standard drafts are released for comments.

The General Implementation Rule for China Product Carbon Footprint Labeling Certification (Trial) was released in March.

China's mandatory standard reform has shown results. Take the mandatory standard for woodworking machinery as an example.

A flashlight on essential requirements for the safe commissioning of machines and systems in the USA in contrast to Europe.

VDMA Members from Austria and Bavaria met in Salzburg to discuss the implemtation of the European Union's new Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR)

The Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI) has published an amendment to the Quality Control Order for Machinery in the Gazette of India, according to which products listed therein will require a market access mark from September 1, 2026.

After the second face-to-face meeting on 8.11.2024 and numerous further online meetings of the 7 sub-working groups, the first drafts and H2 requirements lists are available. (update no. 3)

This article collects some of the EU counterpart policy developments in China in the past two years for reference.

24 mandatory standards, 405 voluntary standards and 75 translated standards were approved in the past two months.