Conformity assessment process and your business
At present, the UK and the EU are still negotiating the terms of the UK’s exit from the EU. These negotiations include the regulations surrounding conformity assessment and the related markings.
The bottom line for Scottish businesses is that even if a deal is agreed, goods will be subject to separate regulation in the UK and the EU. This means that businesses will need to produce goods to two different requirements with separate markings for each product.
- UKCA for the UK market
- CE for the EU market
How will this affect businesses?
The UKCA (UK Conformity Assessed) marking is a new UK product conformity marking that will be used for most of those industrial goods being placed on the GB market (England, Scotland or Wales) which have up until now required the CE marking. Goods being placed on the Northern Irish market will require both the UKNI marking and the CE marking.
Businesses placing goods on the EU market should continue to use the CE marking.
Manufacturers have been given a year’s grace period to continue following the current rules for placing goods on the GB market, if they choose to.
However, all businesses are strongly encouraged to be ready for full implementation of the new UK regime as soon as possible after 1st January 2021 as businesses can only place CE marked goods on the GB market whilst the UK and EU requirements are the same. If UK rules diverge from EU regulations, or the EU changes their rules, businesses who CE mark their goods based on EU rules will no longer be able to use the CE marking in the UK and will need to use the UKCA marking, even if this happens before 1 January 2022.
Mutual recognition agreement
The UK and the EU are currently negotiating a Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA). This focuses solely on the capability of Conformity Assessment Bodies (CABs) in one country, to perform testing and certification on selected goods, against the rules, standards and conformity assessment methods of the other country and vice versa.
If agreed this would mean a good could be produced and certified in the UK and then be exported to the EU without undergoing further testing to assess whether the good meets the EU’s technical requirements.
While the outcome of UK-EU negotiations are not yet known, it is important to note that an agreement would not remove the need for dual certification and businesses will still need to UKCA mark goods for the GB market and CE mark goods for the EU market
Changes not contingent on a deal;
- The CE marking will still be required for products placed on the EU market
- You can place the UKCA and CE marking on the same product if it is destined for both the GB and EU markets so long as the product meets the rules for both markets
Changes contingent on a deal;
- Businesses will need to identify what CABs have been designated and recognised as competent to test for each market
- Businesses should contact their notified bodies as soon as possible to understand their options for conformity assessments for the UK and EU markets
In the event of no deal;
- From 1 January 2021 mandatory conformity assessments by UK bodies will no longer be recognised in the EU
- This means that the results of conformity assessment carried out by UK conformity assessment bodies will no longer be recognised in the EU
- Exporters will either need to apply for a new certificate, issued by an EU notified body, or arrange for the transfer of the file and certificate to an EU notified body
- You should speak to your existing conformity assessment body to discuss options
- If businesses self-declare the conformity of their goods they will need to ensure that the Declaration of Conformity (DoC) is signed by an EU authorized representative and their details will need to be marked or supplied where this is required by the directives
