Brussels, 04/06/2002 (Agence Europe) - Thousands of pressure equipment products, from pressure cookers to divers' air bottles to non-nuclear power stations, will be subject to strict new safety standards from 30 May 2002, when the directive on such equipment (OJ L No181 of 9/7/1997) is fully implemented throughout the EU. The provisions of the directive now replace national rules with European safety rules based on hazard categories, managed in terms of permitted pressure. Conformity with the essential safety requirements will be assessed within a range of hazard categories. Products that meet these requirements will be EC-marked and may thus be sold throughout the Union, the EEA and in candidate countries that have already transposed the directive into their national body of law. EU manufacturers also benefit from easier market access. In parallel, some 50 new European norms relating to pressure equipment, including EN13445, the single most comprehensive standard ever devised by the European Committee for Standardisation (CEN), will make it easier for manufacturers to comply with the directive's essential requirements.