In Focus Commercial Credit ‘Black mark for Brexit’
A new quality mark may be required after the UK leaves the European Union, leading to significant disruption
David Jinks Head of consumer research, ParcelHero
The government’s plans for a new United Kingdom Conformity Assessed (UKCA) mark to replace the European Union’s (EU) CE safety mark, in the event of a hard Brexit, will cost UK manufacturers millions of pounds in new product branding, packaging, and bureaucracy.
Current rules Currently a large number of products manufactured or distributed in the UK and the rest of the EU are required to carry the EU’s CE mark, from toys and kettles to medical implants and hot-water boilers; this shows they meet EU legal requirements. Now we are in the position that we would
warn that the government’s new UKCA logo will need to be displayed on many such items sold in the UK, but that British- manufactured products will still need to be CE approved for sale in the EU, post a no-deal Brexit. In the future, many products will need to
have packaging, marketing, and stamping changed to show they meet UKCA regulations, in case UK and EU regulations start to diverge. It gets worse. As well as new products
being required to meet UKCA regulations, after 29 March 2019 the results of a conformity-assessment test carried out by UK conformity-assessment bodies will no longer be recognised in the EU. UKCA-passed products will not be able
to be placed on the EU market without re-assessment by EU bodies.
Question mark The very idea that British-made goods may have to meet two sets of safety regulations is clearly a huge black mark against no-deal Brexit plans.
March 2019
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UKCA passed products will not be able to be placed on the EU market without re-assessment by EU bodies
The new UKCA mark is surely a huge
question mark hanging over the government’s no-deal Brexit plans. In its latest guidance, the government is
saying post a no-deal Brexit, some CE- marked products will still be legally recognised in the UK, but if a product
requires third-party assessment of conformity, and if this has been carried out by a UK conformity-assessment body, you will have to apply the new UKCA marking after 29 March 2019.
Conclusion Brexiteers campaigned on a platform of less red tape and significant cost savings. Instead, UK manufacturers and exporters are facing a nightmare of product changes and ballooning red tape as EU and UK safety regulations start to separate. The only new mark British exporters
need to see now is a punctuation mark: a full stop to the possibility of a no-deal Brexit. CCR
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