UK government expands the scope of the indefinite CE marking recognition

Last summer, the DBT announced the intention to indefinitely recognise current EU requirements, including the CE marking, for the 18 product regulations under the department’s remit.

Following the series of stakeholders’ roundtables held last year, which CECE actively participated in the UK government is now expanding the scope of continued CE recognition to include three more regulations. In parallel, the UK government announced the intention to legislate for this indefinite CE recognition this Spring to provide legal certainty to the industry. Later in the year, the UK government also intends to introduce greater labelling flexibility, including the voluntary option for manufacturers to use digital labelling.

Along with the 18 DBT regulations, the three further regulations now included are:

• Ecodesign for Energy-Related Products Regulations 2010
• The Explosives Regulations 2014  
• The Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations 2012 (‘The RoHS Regulations’) - in most circumstances

For the Restriction of Hazardous Substances in Electrical Equipment regulation, a two-part approach has been announced. Where products meet the maximum concentration values set out in Annex II to the EU RoHS Directive (2011/65/EU), the current EU regulations and CE marking will continue to be recognised in UK. Where a product relies on an exemption, the current EU regulations and CE marking will continue to be recognised provided there is an equivalent exemption under the GB RoHS regulations.

The indefinite recognition of current EU requirements for the regulations included in the new announcement means businesses have the flexibility to use either the UKCA or CE marking to sell products in Great Britain.

Not all regulations are included in this announcement. The UK government is taking a tailored approach to product regulation to ensure the interests of UK businesses, consumers and the economy are taken into account.

In addition, a new ‘Fast Track UKCA’ process was announced, allowing manufacturers to use the UKCA marking to demonstrate compliance with either UKCA product requirements or EU product requirements where they are recognised, to place products on the market in GB. Where products are covered by multiple regulations, a mixture of both UKCA and CE conformity assessment procedures can be used. This is designed to provide longer-term certainty and flexibility for businesses should the UK mandate UKCA for certain regulations in the future. 

Separately, following feedback from businesses, the Government also intends to legislate for further measures in Spring 2024. This will provide permanent labelling flexibility, allowing:

1. The UKCA marking to be placed on a sticky label or accompanying document.
2. Importers of goods from any country outside the UK to provide their details either on the product itself, on an accompanying document, the packaging or on an adhesive label. This means all businesses placing products on the GB market will benefit from this measure and have the option to provide their details either indelibly on the product itself, on an accompanying document, the packaging or on an adhesive label.
3. The voluntary option to use digital labelling. Businesses will be able to apply the UKCA marking, manufacturer details and importer details digitally.

The DBT will host the webinar “Updates to the UK’s approach to product marking” to explain the changes in greater detail and give participants the chance to ask questions to the policy experts. 

The event will take place on 1st February at 11 AM GMT. Please find here the link to register.