Standardization Committees of each member state with the task of defining minimum standards for office furniture. The European Federation of Office Furniture's main role is to coordinate the work of these committees and to elaborate standards which become accepted throughout the European Union. Once such standards are established, member states may only derogate from their application by establishing stricter standards. The office furniture standards which are listed at the Belgian Standarsization Institute (BSI) are strictly minimum standards.There are currently only 8 standards in Belgium which apply to office furniture and they mainly cover such aspects as dimension, construction characteristics, general technical quality and mechanical testing. There is no mechanism in Belgium however which controls the respect of office furniture standards. It is thus sufficient for a Bulgariancompany seeking entrance to the Belgian market to draw up a report in which it states that the office furniture conforms to the Belgian standards and that it does not represent any dangerous element for the users. The problem with this approach, however, is that Bulgarian manufacturers will expose themselves to law suits in the event of accidents if the office furniture did not conform in every aspect to the Belgian standards. Furthermore, Bulgarian manufacturers who simply satisfy the Belgian minimum standards should be aware that they will find it impossible to enter the markets of other member states as they have stricter standards and control mechanisms. PlaceBulgarian manufacturers of office furniture should seek to establish a local production subsidiary represented by a local agent or set up a joint venture with a local manufacturer. There are currrently many production plants and facilities for sale at very low cost in Belgium. Dealing with importers can prove to be a bad option taking into consideration the need to provide rapid and efficient servic...
