Thanks for the comment. Personally I would not couch the role of the notified bodies as a block for trade in the terms you describe, but as an importer I suppose you have a different perspective from the customer. I am glad, for instance, that the MHRA determines which medical devices may be sold here. Compared to the US, for instance, which has a government run devices approval process, the use of Directives in Europe ensures EU Citizens can access innovative medical devices on average 7 years ahead of their US counterparts. I can only comment as a medical device professional of 25 years standing.
Without notified bodies, buying wheels here would be as much of a lottery as buying knock-offs being sold in Bangkok or Penang. But then, I suppose some traders would welcome a return to that wild west. My understanding is the TUV has two roles as a notified body; an EU wide role, whereby it carries out the strength tests and manufacturing process assessments that you describe, in order to be awarded CE Certification, which is a requirement to market any product in Europe, necessary to ensure Citizens do not come to harm. A second role concerns the marketing of car parts within Germany; it is not sufficient to have a CE Certificate, it needs “TUV approval”, just like, for instance, electrical plugs here need to comply to BSI standands (BSI is also a notified body, operating rather similarly to the TUV, using international offices, particularly in South America, compared to the TUV which has set up testing centres in China). For cars, this requirement is laid down in the StVZO regulations.
Maxilite is a company based in Switzerland but I believe registered in Germany (all their stock is in Germany). It trades directly with the public, and through an Italian company, Alfa Giulia World (which is where I brought the wheels). The wheels it sells, which are mostly replicas of classic Porsche and Alfa Romeo designs, are sold as specific applications. So this new Minilite-style design (which is significantly different to others on the market, my initial thoughts was that these wheels were coming from the same place MWS get their wheels, but the lip style is different, as well as the placement of the stud holes (at the end of the spoke motif, not in between). Although, if sold here, a wheel seller can sell the wheel to fit any car with a 4x100 PCD and 54.1mm centre bore, Maxilite only market this wheel for the Mazda MX5 (and in fact, have now revised their description to refer to fitment on the 1.6 NA MX5 only).
They sell the same style of wheel, with different PCD and offset, as specifically for the Datsun 240Z and 260Z, even though undoubtedly it will fit other cars, but they cannot say that. Is such a system obstructive; possibly. But I am indebted to Mazda Mender’s reply about the cheap universal spacers being sold in this country, which ties in with other sources (that these are made of pot metal, and often crack)