BY Dive Magazine,

Wetsuit and drysuit manufacturers face a raft of additional costs due to European legislation requiring extensive tests on their products. The costs can amount to £4,000 per style, and may contribute to a price hike in diving suits.

A European safety directive called CE 14225 has recently come into force, requiring all new diving suits to undergo tests for puncture, tearing, dryness and thermal properties. Suits are considered by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to be personal protective equipment, which is governed by EU standards legislation.

With manufacturers producing a wide variety of suit designs to appeal to the broad market in the UK and Europe, specialist companies such as Redcar-based Typhoon International are looking at major new costs. David Dean, Typhoon's product manager, told DIVE: 'It's a very annoying cost - we've been producing suits for more than 60 years and we don't actually have to change anything in order to meet the standards.'

There is concern that some manufacturers are still not aware of the law. The diving trade association SITA has informed its members, but there are smaller players who may not know they are breaking the law. The situation has been further confused by the fact that there has been a period of grace since the rules came into force, but this is now finished.

For now, thousands of suits taken prior to the onset of legislation can be sold legitimately without the CE stamp. Also, there will be retrospective cover for styles that subsequently achieve the CE 14225 rating, but are not stamped.

DIVE understands that Trading Standards will not actively chase up manufacturers, but if a diving suit were to be blamed for a serious accident and then found to be an 'illegal' product, there could be serious legal repercussions - possibly even charges of corporate manslaughter.

The additional costs are likely to rebound on the paying public. 'With increased expenses in resources, labour, factory charges and oil prices, this is likely to contribute to a rise in wetsuit and drysuit prices,' an industry insider said.

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