Wholesaler Guide
CE markings update
The UK Government has announced it will continue to recognise the CE product marking in Great Britain for a further two years.
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usinesses may now continue to use CE markings until 31 December 2024. It provides an additional two years, from the current 31 December 2022 deadline, to apply the UKCA product marking.
The UKCA marking was introduced as part of the UK’s own product regulatory framework following withdrawal from the European Union. It is intended to replace the CE marking and reversed epsilon marking on the GB market, demonstrating product compliance for the GB market. The original intention was that businesses would be required to use the UKCA marking by 31 December 2021. However, on 24 August 2021, the UK government announced an extra year to start using the UKCA marking. This has now been extended once again to 31 December 2024.
Following the two-year extension,
manufacturers wishing to retain access to the UK market for their products must still apply UKCA markings by 1 January 2025. EU certifi cates can be used as a basis for applying UKCA markings until 31 December 2027 (or earlier if the original certifi cation is due to expire or requires signifi cant revision).
26 | electrical wholesalerFebruary 2023
The UKCA mark will not be recognised outside of Great Britain. Products sold in the EU will still require CE marking. CE marking will continue to be accepted in Northern Ireland under the Ireland/Northern Ireland Protocol alongside the UKNI marking.
Commenting on the announcement of new legislation on UKCA marking, Head of Trade Policy William Bain said: “In the midst of a cost of doing business crisis for many fi rms across Great Britain, this announcement brings welcome respite from major changes on electrical and
“Businesses may now continue to use CE markings until 31 December 2024.”
consumer products. Businesses will be breathing a huge sigh of relief as this decision pushes back costly alterations on product marking that were due to come into eff ect in a matter of weeks. “BCC [British Chambers of Commerce] research carried out last year found that only 8% of businesses were in favour of getting rid of the current EU marking system, called CE, by the start of 2023, and 59% of businesses, aff ected by
the decision, wanted to keep it. They see strong benefi ts in having a single system for testing and marking of industrial and electrical goods for business. Having to use two marking systems, one for in the UK and one for the EU market, will increase costs and also lead to limited choice for customers if fi rms decide not to do both.” He continued: “The BCC fi rmly believes there should be no changes on product marking until beyond 2026, and for the issue of UKCA and CE certifi cation to be resolved then for all products. Today’s push back is a welcome fi rst step, but much deeper engagement with industry is still needed to devise a plan that works to avoid extra costs for both importing and exporting businesses, and consumers. Ultimately we also need a system that will avoid any unnecessary future cliff -edges on compliance.”
ewnews.co.uk
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