Specific German government and EU registration requirements

A technical examination is not always compulsory for every product, although even where
this is not the case, the supplier or importer often arranges for voluntary
examination, if only to be able to advertise the result. Similarly, a number of
services on offer to the general public must meet certain conditions; an example
of this is compulsory insurance cover for tour operators in the travel trade.
The liberal professions, doctors, auditors, tax consultants, engineers, architects,
and lawyers are subject to institutional supervision. This supervision invariably
extends to ethical conduct as well as technical competence.

The relevant EU directives on the subject are, in practice, generally of secondary importance to
the more stringent rules of the supervising institutes themselves.