The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) announced on 24th August 2021, that the deadline for businesses to transition to UK conformity assessment marking (UKCA) will be extended to 1st January 2023.

Initially conveyed through Government guidance, this extension has now been confirmed in law through The Product Safety and Metrology etc. (Amendment) Regulations 2021. This legislation also makes technical changes and amendments to allow relevant product safety legislation to work as intended.

In our September 2021 Health and Safety Newsletter, we provided a summary of the main changes between CE and UKCA marking. We also let you know that the UK Government and HSE websites have confirmed the deadline extension, allowing CE marked goods to continue to be placed on the market until 31st December 2022.

The extension of the transition period by one year provides additional time for businesses to comply with the new regime in Great Britain (England, Wales and Scotland).

As Coronavirus (COVID-19) has without a doubt, affected many businesses and hindered their ability to transition to the UKCA marking, this extension may help to mitigate against further potential disruption to the supply of certain goods in Great Britain.

Here is a reminder of the key changes to CE / UKCA marking rules

• Goods first placed on the market in Great Britain after 1st January 2021 can either be CE marked or UKCA marked.
• The relevant Product Safety Regulations now state that goods first placed on the market in Great Britain after 1st January 2023 must be UKCA marked.
• The requirements in Northern Ireland are different. CE marking continues to be required in Northern Ireland, and there is (currently) no deadline to phase out its use.

All relevant legislation summaries will be amended in line with these recent legislative changes.

If you need more help, why not get in touch with us? – Our professional team of consultants offer independent, periodic compliance evaluations and support for both environment and health & safety.

CE marking is due to be replaced in Great Britain by UKCA marking. However, the deadline for this has recently been extended. Jonathan Teale takes a look at the change to the UKCA mark and its recently announced delay. 

CE marking

Manufacturers, importers and distributors of certain types of products across the EU are required to ensure that those products have been conformity assessed and CE marked before those products are placed on the market. Until 1st January 2021 the same requirements applied to manufacturers, importers and distributors (collectively referred to as ‘economic operators’) in the UK.

UKCA marking

Of course, the UK left the EU on 1st January 2021. On that same date a new product conformity mark – the UKCA mark – was introduced into Great Britain. However, in order to avoid sudden change for businesses, a transition period of 12 months was provided during which time economic operators in Great Britain could choose to use either the new UKCA mark, or the CE mark, or both. From 1st January 2022, economic operators placing relevant products on the market in Great Britain for the first time would be required to ensure that those products were UKCA marked.

Deadline extended
The Government has recently announced that this transition period is to be extended to 1st January 2023. This means that economic operators can continue to place CE marked goods on the GB market until 1st January 2023, after which date goods newly placed on the market will need to be UKCA marked. Government guidance concerning this can be seen here.
Why does the Legislation Update Service continue to refer to the 2022 deadline?
If your health and safety register includes entries for any of the product safety regulations as they apply in Great Britain, you will see that they still refer to the deadline of 1st January 2022, not 2023. This is because the legislation in place currently still provides the 1st January 2022 deadline. We expect the government will issue new amendment regulations to extend this to 1st January 2023, but at time of going to press they have not yet done so. As soon as the amendment regulations are passed, we will update the relevant entries in your registers. Until that time, the Legislation Update Service entries reflect the law as it currently stands.
Application in Northern Ireland
UKCA marking is not applicable in Northern Ireland. Under the terms of the Northern Ireland Protocol, Northern Ireland continues to implement EU rules. Consequently, goods placed on the market in Northern Ireland will continue to be CE marked. If the conformity assessment is completed by a UK based assessment body, a UK(NI) mark is placed on the goods in addition to the CE mark. The UK(NI) mark is not, however, a Northern Ireland equivalent of the UKCA mark.

Readers will be aware that the UK government continues to indicate dissatisfaction with the Northern Ireland Protocol. If any legal changes are made to the requirements arising from the Protocol, they will be reported in Legislation Update Service.
When are goods first ‘placed on the market’?
The requirement for economic operators to conformity mark goods applies when the goods are first ‘placed on the market’. We won’t go into the technical legal definition of ‘placed on the market’ but in summary it means when the goods are first transferred or sold. Note that the requirement only applies when the goods are first placed on the market – it does not apply each and every subsequent time the goods are sold on. Consequently, goods which have already been ‘placed on the market’ prior to 1st January 2022 (or 2023 following the extension) would not need to be re-marked with the UKCA mark after that date. A retailer with a warehouse full of CE marked goods which were bought before 1st January 2022 would not need to re-mark those goods with the UKCA mark after 1st January 2022, so long as the retailer has evidence that they acquired the goods before that date.
In conclusion, here are the key points:

• Goods first placed on the market in Great Britain after 1st January 2021 can either be CE marked, or UKCA marked.
• Currently, the relevant product safety regulations state that goods first placed on the market in Great Britain after 1st January 2022 must be UKCA marked.
• However, government guidance now indicates that this deadline has been extended to 1st January 2023.
• Despite the government guidance, the relevant regulations have not yet been amended. Until the regulations are amended, Legislation Update Service entries will continue to show the deadline of 1st January 2022.
• Be aware that the requirements in Northern Ireland are different. CE marking continues to be required and there is (currently) no deadline for phasing this out.

If you need more help, why not get in touch with us? - Our professional team of consultants offer independent, periodic compliance evaluations for both environment and health & safety. 

The UK Government has announced further changes to the rules concerning CE marked goods placed on the market in Great Britain. The Compliance People consultant Jonathan Teale looks at this important change.

The UK Government has announced further changes to the rules concerning CE marked goods placed on the market in Great Britain. Currently, the law says that goods which require a conformity mark can be either CE marked or UK CA marked (or both) when placed on the market in Great Britain, but from 1st January 2022 goods placed on the market in Great Britain for the first time must be UK CA marked.

However, the UK Government and HSE websites now indicate that CE marked goods can continue to be placed on the market until 31 December 2022 i.e. an extension of 1 year.

Jonathan Teale looks at this important change.

Prior to 1st January 2021, goods placed on the market anywhere in the UK followed the same rules as goods placed on the market across the EU. The requirement to CE mark many goods provides evidence that those goods have been assessed to and comply with uniform standards.

Since the 1st January 2021, a new UK CA mark has been introduced in Great Britain. Goods placed on the market in Great Britain for the first time after 1st January 2021 can be UK CA marked instead of (or as well as) CE marked. (CE marked goods which had already been placed on the market can continue to circulate – no change is required).

The new UK CA mark performs the same function as the CE mark.

In order to help businesses with the change required, a transition period was provided until 31 December 2021. During that period, any person placing goods on the market in Great Britain for the first time has a choice – they can either UK CA mark the goods, or CE mark them (or both). This is because for the time being, the standards which goods must comply with to be UK CA marked are exactly the same as for CE marking. Therefore, so long as the standards remain the same during the transition period, either mark can be used. (N.B. UK CA marked goods will not be accepted on the market in the EU or Northern Ireland – these transition arrangements only apply in Great Britain). Should any of the relevant standards diverge during the transition period, new goods affected by those standards would thereafter need to be UK CA marked (CE marked goods already placed on the market can continue to circulate – they will not need to be retrospectively UK CA marked). As the law currently stands, goods first placed on the market in Great Britain after the 1st January 2022 will need to be UK CA marked (they can also be CE marked, but they must be UK CA marked).

However, we now note that the UK Government and HSE websites state that the transition period for use of CE marking has been extended to 31st December 2022. That means that businesses can continue to place CE marked goods on the market in Great Britain until that date. The UK CA mark will not become mandatory for new goods until 1st January 2023 (unless the compliance standards diverge in the meantime, in which case the UK CA mark would become mandatory after that point for any goods for which the UK standard has diverged).

At the time of going to press, the regulations have not yet been amended to reflect this change, but we anticipate we will see amendments issued in the near future to reflect this. Until we see those amendment regulations, the relevant entries in LUS will continue to reflect the legal position, namely that CE marking can only be used until 31st December 2021.

Note that these changes apply in Great Britain only. They do not affect Northern Ireland, where goods should continue to be CE (or CE + UK(NI)) marked.
In Summary:

• In Great Britain, the UK CA mark will replace the CE mark.
• The UK CA mark was introduced on 1st January 2021. Businesses placing goods on the GB market for the first time after that date can already use the UK CA mark instead of the CE mark, but use of the UK CA mark is not yet mandatory. Therefore, until 31st December 2021, businesses can continue to place goods on the GB market using either the CE mark, or the UK CA mark (or both).
• The law currently says that goods first placed on the GB market after 1st January 2022 must be UK CA marked.
• However, UK Government and HSE websites now show that this date has been extended to 1st January 2023. Until that date, either the UK CA or the CE mark (or both) can be used.

If you need more help, why not get in touch with us? – Our professional team of consultants offer independent, periodic compliance evaluations for both environment and health & safety.