• • • INDUSTRY COMMENT • • •
How will Brexit change CE marking? By Nathan Emery, certification body manager at TÜV SÜD
By applying the CE marking and providing the associated EU Declaration of Conformity, a manufacturer or importer is confirming that a product meets the requirements of all applicable EU Directives. This usually involves a simple self- declaration from a manufacturer that their product complies with the relevant European legislation, but in some circumstances it may also require a third party Type Examination Certification assessment.
C Regardless of what happens with this year’s trade
negotiations between the EU and UK, the actual process for manufacturing compliant products will have little effect from a legal perspective. As the EU Directives are transposed into National Law, the UK already has a legal system in place that applies. Current “EU Exit Statutory Instruments” amend the existing law to enable the UKCA Marking requirements to replace the CE Marking requirements at the end of the European Union exit transition period. While references to “harmonised standards” will change to ‘designated standards’, the actual standards will remain the same as EU harmonised standards. They will therefore simply be carried across as UK designated standards, in order to maintain a single model. After the end of the Brexit transition period, end-
users in the UK will start to see a UKCA mark appearing on compliant products. The CE marking will of course remain in the EU. However, in both jurisdictions the same rules will apply for designers, manufacturers and importers - everyone must understand their legal duties and
urrently, any products that fall under a CE marking Directive cannot be imported into the EU unless they show the CE marking.
responsibilities. In the UK, procedures will change very little from the existing structure as all products will still need to comply with the essential requirements. If the EU and the UK fail to establish an MRA, the
most significant impact will be on the location of the manufacturer. Under CE marking rules, UK companies exporting into the EU would previously have appointed a responsible person that was authorised to compile the technical file, and then the manufacturer could self-declare a product’s compliance. After Brexit, this responsible person or entity must now be physically located in the EU, which is the same rule that has been applied for many years to any other country outside of the EU. This will be reciprocated for EU entities importing into the UK, although the definition wording may be slightly different. Quite simply, post-exit from EU, the UK will operate a separate regulatory regime just like the rest of the world. The same requirements will apply to notified
bodies, as they will need to be based in the EU or an EFTA member country to retain this status. So, product manufacturers should consider if their existing notified body, based in one of the remaining 27 EU countries, will have the legal capacity to meet future UK certification requirements. Some UK notified bodies, TÜV SÜD included, are
already prepared for the EU-UK split and have secured Notified Body Accreditation from an EU- based authority, to ensure that CE marking certification remains seamless for UK manufacturers after Brexit. This will ensure that UK-based businesses can maintain product CE certification and obtain new ones, no matter what
34 ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING • NOVEMBER 2020
occurs after the trade negotiations. This is particularly pertinent if the UK leaves the EU without a MRA, as UK-based organisations that have not taken this option would cease to be a EU notified body. Under the current proposal for the UKCA mark
existing UK-based notified bodies will become UK Approved Bodies. So, their actual function will remain the same but under a different title. Meanwhile, all relevant certificates that have been issued previously for EU Directives before Brexit, such as Radio Equipment, Machinery and Marine Equipment, will cease being valid. Products entering the UK market will need to start applying the UKCA mark and, where stipulated by the UK legislative requirements, seek third-party Type Examination Certification by a UK Approved Body. One key thing that it is particularly important to
bear in mind is that if you are a UK distributor for equipment manufactured in the EU, your status will change from distributor to importer. The responsibility for compliance will rest with you to follow the UK’s new UKCA requirements, in the absence of a MRA between the EU and the UK. Both the CE and UKCA markings are a visible
sign that a product complies with all the relevant regulations, as required by the EU and UK regulatory authorities. It is therefore essential that manufacturers and designers of electrical products understand how to apply the vast range of possible relevant standards and Directives, to ensure both compliance and the saleability of equipment destined for these two markets.
TÜV SÜD 020 7821 0800
tuvsud.com
electricalengineeringmagazine.co.uk
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