“Businesses will be given an additional 2 years to apply new product safety marking, giving thousands of businesses the freedom to focus on growth, Business Secretary Grant Shapps has announced today (Monday 14 November).”
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) commented:
“We are announcing HMG’s intention to introduce legislation to continue recognition of the CE marking and reversed epsilon marking until 31 December 2024 for most goods being placed on the market or put into service in Great Britain as part of new ministers’ commitment to reduce burdens for industry.
The timescales will be amended to reflect the extension:
> Reducing labelling costs by continuing to allow businesses to affix the UKCA marking, and to include importer information for products from EEA countries (and in some cases, Switzerland) on an accompanying document or a label until 31 December 2027.
> Reducing re-testing costs for UKCA certification by allowing conformity assessment activities for CE marking undertaken by 31 December 2024 to be used by manufacturers as the basis for UKCA marking, until the expiry of the certificate or until 31 December 2027, whichever is sooner.
This package of measures is intended to provide businesses with more flexibility and reduce regulatory burdens for businesses. We will use our regulatory autonomy to help businesses navigate the current global economic and supply chain challenges whilst prioritising growth. In parallel, we will also consider how we could reduce costs and burdens associated with the UK regulatory framework in the longer-term, including opportunities under the Product Safety Review.
The Statutory Instrument to give effect to these changes is due to be laid before Parliament today and we expect it to come into force before the end of the year.
There rules remain different for medical devices, construction products, cableways, transportable pressure equipment, unmanned aircraft systems, rail products, and marine equipment. Departments responsible for these sectors are making sector specific arrangements.
We are also hosting a webinar on these measures on November 16 at 3pm (you can access it using this link). This is intended to help stakeholders understand the changes.“