As has been widely reported, UK Government has this week provided businesses with an additional 12 months to apply new conformity assessment markings to products placed on the market in Great Britain. 

The UK Conformity Assessed (UKCA) mark will ultimately replace the 'CE' mark (required in the EU) for products placed on the GB market. The UKCA mark formally came into effect on 1 January 2021, however, to allow businesses further time to adjust to the new requirements, a transitional period was provided during which the CE mark could still be used on new products until 1 January 2022. Government guidance now confirms that the transition will be extended to 1 January 2023.

Wednesday's announcement by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy cites the "continued impact of the pandemic" as the key driver for this extension. However, as many businesses reliant on 'UK approved bodies' for conformity assessment services will already know, the increased demand for such services has left many faced with significant backlogs and delays. This will no doubt also have been a factor in BEIS decision-making.

It is worth noting that this change does not impact wider (Brexit-related) product compliance issues, such as the new 'importer' responsibilities that came into force this year (from 1 January 2021). As we have discussed in previous posts, many of the CE / UKCA marking regimes require that 'importers' are identified on the product, and that those 'importers' are 'established' in the (relevant) market. For many of those manufacturing in the EU, or importing products from outside the EU into other EU member states before moving products to GB for distribution, this has meant adapting product labelling to include the details of a UK-based importer (and indeed establishing a new UK entity specifically for this purpose in some cases). This problem has continued to cause supply-chain challenges beyond the deadline, and will not be alleviated by the latest announcement.

We are supporting a range of companies navigate the challenges presented by conformity assessment requirements across two parallel regimes. The impact is wider than it may first appear, and reaches far beyond consumer products. Indeed, many of the more challenging issues that we see relate to the import and putting into service of machinery, pressure systems and other equipment within large-scale industrial projects with complex international supply chains. This move by UK Government will of course be welcomed by those grappling with such challenges, but should not be seen as an opportunity to park preparations - reworking timetables for UKCA compliance and securing any 3rd-party conformity assessment support that may be required should remain a priority.