CE mark - UKCA
The UK government has unveiled a post-Brexit UK equivalent to the CE mark, known as the UKCA, to be used, subject to parliamentary approval, in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.
The CE (Conformité Européenne) mark was introduced in 1993 and is applied to all goods placed on the market or in service within the EU single market and is a declaration that they meet the essential requirements of all EU directives.
Household products that require the CE marking include kettles. smartphones and childrens' toys.
The UK has already implemented all of the EU Directives that require CE marking into law. These laws will continue to apply and therefore continue to require CE marking for applicable goods on sale or in service in the UK. Any goods intended for sale within the EU will also still need the CE marking.
It could become the case, however, that a post-Brexit government amends product safety legislation and that goods destined for the UK market would then require the UKCA marking instead.
In the event of a no-deal Brexit taking place, manufacturers will not have to immediately adopt the new UKCA marking. This means that CE marked products already on shop shelves and stored in warehouses can still be legally sold in the UK.
Scott Steedman of the British Standards Institution told the BBC: "A UK mark would provide confidence to consumers and to the authorities that these products meet UK regulatory requirements. It provides flexibility for government should there be a divergence of regulations to insist that manufacturers were committing to that UK regulatory practice in future."
However, Stephen Phipson, chief executive of the manufacturers' organisation EEF, said "It's another cost as a result of not doing a deal on Brexit. In a very short period of time, thousands of companies are going to have to spend millions of pounds collectively on changing all their markings to comply with the new mark,"
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