Fencing.Net has received numerous comments regarding the report of the failure of the Wuxi FIE uniforms and sales ban in the UK. One distributor of the Wuxi FIE product called the story into question and provided Fencing.Net with a Wuxi factory statement attesting that their uniforms are still legal for FIE use.
Further investigation by Fencing.Net revealed that the Wuxi FIE uniforms sold previously in the United Kingdom were independently tested and failed to meet the CE level 2 protection regulation (EN13567) that is the basis for compliance with FIE standards.
{sidebar id=1}According to sources in the UK office of European Consumer Affairs, the Wuxi uniforms were investigated after a competitor alleged that the Wuxi line of FIE uniforms were not in compliance with CE standards. The consumer protection office purchased uniforms themselves and sent them off to the testing house, and that testing confirmed the allegations that the products were not up to the minimum standards. The Wuxi products were subsequently restricted from being marketed in the UK.
Despite the independence of the European Consumer Affairs (RAPEX) UK office, Wuxi alleges that Leon Paul tampered with the uniforms prior to testing. In their statement, Wuxi claims that the failure of their uniform is "a scheme by Leon Paul to squeeze Jiang(WUXI) Fencing products out of UK Market, even the whole European Market."
When asked to clarify their involvement in the testing of the Wuxi FIE product, a representative for Leon Paul stated:
"Leon Paul sent a brand new Wuxi FIE jacket that had not been tampered with in any way to one of the officially accredited EN13567 test houses. A copy of the test result was passed to Trading Standards in the UK in August 2008 and since then Leon Paul have had nothing to do with the case."
" The first that we heard of the ban on the sale of Wuxi FIE equipment was when the news was posted on the official European Consumer affairs website. There is an old English adage "when in a hole stop digging"."
The Wuxi Declaration also states that the response from the SEMI FIE Commission is that:
the "Wuxi 800N uniforms passed the EN 13567 tests done at CRITT and is according with the FIE rules. Therefore FIE certificate was given to WUXI for his 800N FIE uniform (composed of breeches, jacket and underplastron), and it will be accepted at the FIE competitions weapons’ control."
When asked about the status of the Wuxi FIE uniforms, the president of the FIE’s SEMI commission stated: "The FIE gave an approval to he Wuxi uniform 800N based on the tests and reports of a valid CE institute, the uniform passed the EN 13567 tests, also the sample received was good."
At least one other site has confirmed that the Wuxi uniforms are still being allowed at world cup competitions (as of February 2009.)
The Wuxi uniforms passed FIE certification in 2007.
Interestingly, there has been a case of an FIE approved item having its FIE certification recinded. In the past, there was a company called Musketeer which produced and had certified an FIE fencing mask. After the mask went on sale, concerns were raised over how durable the mask bib felt. That particular mask was called into question by a rival German company and subsequent testing found that the mask did not meet safety requirements. As a result, the Musketeer mask lost its FIE certification.
According to the European Consumer Affairs office, this investigation is still ongoing.
References:
- Wuxi Declaration: http://www.husheng-cn.com/declaration.htm
- January RAPEX Report: http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/dyna/rapex/create_rapex.cfm?rx_id=218
