Whitehall prior to Britain’s withdrawal from the major trading bloc specified that by 1 January 2022, businesses should start using the new UKCA mark, as a replacement for the EU’s CE mark which certifies the safety standards of a wide range of products, from electrical goods to construction material and medical devices. However, the government has now decided to extend this deadline by one year, in order to give British manufacturers more time to adapt to the new rules.
“Recognising the impact of the pandemic on businesses, the government will extend this deadline to 1 January 2023 to apply UKCA marks for certain products to demonstrate compliance with product safety regulations, rather than 1 January 2022,” the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy said.
According to the government, the UKCA mark will enable authorities to control the UK’s goods regulations while ensuring high safety standards are met. However, British manufacturers argue that the new rules will come with a significant cost, as they may force businesses to make changes to their production lines, and fill in heaps of additional paperwork, particularly for those businesses who are selling goods in both the UK and the EU, as they will have to follow two regimes.
“Complex supply chains such as those in the automotive industry still face having to duplicate markings on certain components and incurring large costs for testing as a result,” the head of trade policy at the British Chambers of Commerce, William Bain, said. “This could compromise the output of these industries, limit availability of goods for consumers and create mounting cost pressures on British businesses.”
