Update: On Your Marks…Get Set to Trade in the EU

Update: On Your Marks…Get Set to Trade in the EU

Cathrine Ripley considers how the rules surrounding using the EU’s CE marking fits in with the current landscape for UK manufacturers looking to continue trading in the EU following Brexit.

On 24 August 2021, the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) amended its guidance, extending the time period for which CE product marks would continue to be accepted in Great Britain 31 December 2022.

CE marks are a manufacturer’s assertion that its product meets all the EU’s essential safety requirements. Certain categories of product, ranging from toys to gas appliances, must bear the CE mark so they can be placed on the EU market. Manufacturers can demonstrate their compliance by declaring that they have taken appropriate steps or by having the product assessed by an EU-recognised “notified body”.

Following Brexit, the UK adopted a new UK Conformity Assessment (UKCA) mark, which fulfilled the same function as the CE mark, but for the GB market. This UKCA mark is not recognised in the EU market, although the CE mark retained validity in Great Britain. Initially, the government had set a deadline of 1 January 2022, by which time manufacturers would have to adopt the new UKCA markings when placing goods on the GB market. However, BEIS’s updated guidance means that manufacturers had until 1 January 2023 before they needed to start using the UKCA mark.

Manufacturers trading in both Great Britain and the EU could continue to use just the CE mark to operate in both markets. UK manufacturers could use the CE mark, provided that one of the following conditions was met:

  • The manufacturer applies the CE mark on the basis of self-declared conformity.
  • An EU-recognised notified body carries out a third party-conformity assessment of the product.
  • A certificate of conformity previously issued by a UK-approved body was transferred to an EU-recognised notified body before 1 January 2021.

However, UK manufacturers needed to prepare to adopt the UKCA mark by 1 January 2023 (but this was extended to the end of 2024), for use in the GB market.

Products may carry both the CE mark and UKCA mark, provided they are compliant with both EU and UK regulations. Given the current lack of divergence between the two regimes, it is likely that this is the approach that most UK manufacturers will adopt, to avoid unnecessary costs in preparing two sets of the same product (i.e. one with the CE mark, the other with the UKCA mark).

However, this will only continue to be the case for as long as the UK’s product requirements remain the same as the EU’s. While the UK Government doesn’t appear to have any immediate plans to diverge from the EU’s product requirements regime, this may not be the case longer term and we will continue to monitor developments in this area.

2024 Updates

The Product Safety and Metrology etc (Amendment) Regulations 2024 are set to come into effect on 1 October 2024 and will allow goods to continue to use the EU’s CE marking. Although there are some restrictions as to the type of goods that this Regulation will apply to (for example construction products or medical devices are not caught by these rules), it means that companies in the UK will have the option to use the EU CE marking or the UKCA marking indefinitely.

If you have any questions as a result of this article, please contact [email protected]