The government intends to legislate to continue recognition of EU requirements, including the CE marking, indefinitely for a range of product regulations this spring. This will mean businesses have the flexibility to use either the UKCA or CE marking to sell products in Great Britain.
The government is introducing a new Fast-Track provision that will allow manufacturers to place products on the GB market where they meet the EU essential requirements and have been conformity assessed by an EU recognised conformity assessment body.
To benefit from this provision, manufacturers will need to affix the UKCA marking (in a way that is allowed) and draw up the UK declaration of conformity, listing compliance with the relevant EU legislation. This also means that where products fall within multiple regulations, a mixture of both UKCA and CE conformity assessment procedures can be used.
This is designed to provide longer-term certainty and flexibility for businesses should the UK mandate UKCA for certain regulations in the future. Find out more about placing products on the market in Great Britain using UK or EU product markings.
Continued recognition of current EU requirements, including the CE and reversed epsilon markings, will apply to 21 product regulations, including the 18 product regulations owned by the Department of Business and Trade, previously announced on 1 August 2023. Following feedback from industry, the government is also continuing recognition for a further 3 regulations covering: ecodesign, civil explosives, and, in most circumstances, restriction of hazardous substances (in electrical equipment).
This announcement does not apply to regulations for medical devices, construction products, marine equipment, rail products, cableways, transportable pressure equipment and unmanned aircraft systems regulations. There are specific arrangements in place for these sectors.
Separately, following feedback from businesses, the government also intends to bring forward an additional statutory instrument to legislate for further measures in spring 2024.
This will provide permanent labelling flexibility, allowing:
- The UKCA marking to be placed on a sticky label or accompanying document.
- Importers of goods from any country outside the UK to provide their details either on the product itself, on an accompanying document, the packaging or on an adhesive label. This means all businesses placing products on the GB market will benefit from this measure and have the option to provide their details either indelibly on the product itself, on an accompanying document, the packaging or on an adhesive label.
- The voluntary option to use digital labelling. Businesses will be able to apply the UKCA marking, manufacturer details and importer details digitally.
More information is available through the government’s Guidance: Using the UKCA marking website.