EU CE quality mark another year for UK products

UK Government to allow businesses to continue to use European CE certification for another year, instead of adopting to the new “UKCA” safety and quality mark (post-Brexit).

The UK government is to grant a major concession to British business by prolonging the deadline for companies to adopt a new “UKCA” safety and quality mark for their goods after Brexit.

The one-year extension for UK products to continue using the EU’s “CE” safety mark came after businesses warned that they would not be ready for the planned post-Brexit shift away from EU certification at the end of 2021. 

The government climbdown, which will be announced on Tuesday, will give vital breathing space for UK manufacturers, which had warned over risks to the British supply chain if they could no longer use products made overseas.

Under the UK plans, companies will now be given until January 2023 to apply for the bew UK Conformity Assesed marks, according to a person briefed on the move.

The government said the coronavirus pandemic had made it more difficult for businesses to prepare for the change, which requires manufactured products to be tested and carry UKCA certification to replace the EU’s CE mark.

To win UKCA status, products need to be approved by British-based authorising bodies, which has caused a backlog of applications for key components. 

Trade groups, including automotive makers, lift manufacturers and building supplies groups, have repeatedly warned that the UK does not have sufficient capacity to handle the huge demand for the testing of products. 

They also warned the government that EU-based suppliers were in many cases not ready to obtain a UKCA mark in order to supply goods to the UK market, raising the risk of serious gaps in British supply chains.

Businesses added that where EU companies supplied only a small number of goods or components, they were not willing to bear the costs of certifying those products for a handful of UK businesses.

UK certification applies to the processes used to make the parts as well as the parts themselves, adding further complications.

“We haven’t got capacity in many areas such as construction products and pyrotechnics,” said Fergus McReynolds, director of EU affairs at manufacturers trade group Make UK. 

“The UK is facing a crunch running up to the end of the year as more companies race to apply. Supplies will also be cut off if overseas supplying businesses are not ready. The question is then how to incentivise them to use the CA markings.”

Trade bodies are also working with officials to streamline the process of transferring existing CE marks to the new UK certification system, which recognises previous EU registrations as valid but requires them to be converted into UKCA marks. 

Nick Mellor, managing director of the Lift and Escalator Industry Association, said the extension was necessary to enable certification bodies to work through thousands of designs and safety components that need to be recertified.

Source: FT