Government announces additional support for businesses with UKCA markings

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has published a written ministerial statement “Further support for business as they transition to the new UKCA (UK Conformity Assessed) marking regime”: https://bit.ly/3QzYlQ8

Statement made by Paul Scully, Minister for Small Business, Consumers and Labour Markets:

“I am pleased to announce that the Government is going further to make it easier and cheaper for businesses to move to the new UKCA product regulation regime.

“Our new UKCA regime gives us the chance to take control of the way products are regulated and ensure these rules work to the benefit of business and consumers in Great Britain. The UKCA marking will become mandatory for most goods which previously used the CE and reverse epsilon markings if they are first placed on the market in Great Britain after 31 December 2022.

“The Government understands that moving to this new regime has meant changes for businesses. Whilst change is necessary, we want to take a pragmatic approach. We have been consulting with industry to understand their key concerns in the transition to the UKCA marking regime.

“The Government wants to make it easier for businesses to comply with the changes so we will introduce four measures to further support businesses adopting UKCA. These measures are designed to reduce compliance burdens and prevent costs that could be passed on to consumers. These changes will apply to BEIS sectors requiring the UKCA marking, other departments will make related announcements on arrangements for their sectors as required in due course.”

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities is making a UKCA announcement in conjunction with BEIS today, as indicated below.

These measures are as follows:

  1. Government will reduce re-testing costs for UKCA certification, by allowing certificates provided by EU (European Union) conformity assessment bodies (CABs) issued before the end of this year to be used as a basis for UKCA marking certification (including a specific arrangement for construction products, via the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities). This will prevent duplication and immediate increased costs for businesses.
  2. Government will make clear there is no need to re-test existing imported stock, as these products will be considered already placed on the Great Britain (GB) market. This will prevent the costly, and unnecessary re-labelling of existing stock for businesses.
  3. Government will make clear that spare parts that repair or replace goods already on the GB market can meet the same requirements as the goods that they repair or replace. This will allow products and goods requiring spare parts to continue to be maintained.
  4. Government will allow the UKCA marking and importer details to be added to products using a sticky label or on an accompanying document until 31 December 2025. This will allow business to adjust their product design to accommodate marking changes at a convenient and cost-effective time.

The Government intends to lay secondary legislation before the end of the calendar year to give effect to the changes for labelling and testing. Our guidance will be updated to reflect our changes to spare parts and existing stock.

These measures are being implemented to address the concerns we have heard through working closely with industry. Officials in the Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy, in collaboration with other departments, will continue to engage actively with industry and support their preparations ahead of the full introduction of UKCA rules at the end of 2022.

Commenting on today’s announcement of  added support for business as they move towards the new UKCA marking regime, Stephen Phipson, CEO of Make UK said:

“We are delighted that the Government has listened to business and has today announced easements for the introduction of the UK Conformity Assessment (UKCA) mark. Make UK has long called for this and the announcement is very welcome and will provide businesses with an additional support through the transition to the UKCA.

“The delay also allows for continued investment in conformity assessment testing here in the UK which will be critical going forwards, businesses will still face the unnecessary complexity of applying two systems of marking for products produced to the same rules and meeting the same safety requirements. This will continue to disadvantage businesses in and businesses supplying the market in Great Britain while providing no additional benefit or delivering any additional market advantage which is why Make UK will continue to call for a more tailored approach and for CE marketed goods to be recognised on the market in Great Britain for as long as the rules in the UK have not diverged and remain the same.”