caveat emptor

Latin for 'let the buyer beware'. This implies a buyer must ensure that goods about to be purchased are free from defects and that he/she bears the risk.

It is particularly relevant in property transactions, where the seller is legally obliged not to mislead the buyer, but other than that the onus is on the buyer to satisfy himself that the property is in the condition he wants.

Well, Booker points out in this weeks Sunday Telegraph

The EU loves to boast of how its CE mark system is respected all over the world, but it has one fundamental flaw. There is in fact no way of guaranteeing that a product has been properly tested. All too often, not least in China, fraudulent CE marks are slapped on products indiscriminately, reducing the system to a charade. As has been observed, CE all too often now seems to mean no more than "China exempted".


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