Using the UKCA marking if the UK leaves the EU without a deal

According to the current status, a Brexit without associated withdrawal agreements, the United Kingdom will become a so-called third country on 30 March 2019 and is therefore no longer a member of the EU.

The UK authority “Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy” has now announced that “the UKCA marking will become the new UK product marking that will be used, subject to parliamentary approval, for certain goods being placed on the UK market if we leave the EU without a deal. These products also include the devices with radio technologies.”

When to use the UKCA marking?

The authority states that “In most cases you will still be able to use the CE marking for products being placed on the UK market. However, if your products require third party assessment of conformity, and if this has been carried out by a UK conformity assessment body, you will have to apply the new UKCA marking after 29 March 2019 (where required by legislation). This will not be the case if the certificate of conformity has been transferred to an EU-recognized body (in which case the CE marking would apply). If you currently rely solely on a self-declaration of conformity for the CE marking you will also be able to use the UKCA marking based on self-declaration, for those products within scope of the marking.”

How to use the UKCA marking?

The UKCA marking must be affixed to the product itself, but it may also be affixed to the packaging, manuals or other supporting material.
The Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy defines the following general rules:

• UKCA markings must only be placed on a product by you as the manufacturer or your authorized representative (where allowed for in the relevant legislation)
• when attaching the UKCA marking, you take full responsibility for your product’s conformity with the requirements of the relevant legislation
• you must only use the UKCA marking to show product conformity with the relevant UK legislation
• you must not place any marking or sign that may misconstrue the meaning or form of the UKCA marking to third parties
• you must not attach other markings on the product which affect the visibility, legibility or meaning of the UKCA marking
• the UKCA marking cannot be placed on products unless there is a specific requirement to do so in the legislation

Continued use of the CE marking in the UK

There will not be any needed change for manufacturers whose products are already on the UK market before 29 March 2019. These goods can continue to be marketing in the UK as they do now without any changes to the marking requirements.

After 29 March 2019 you will still be able to sell goods which have been made and assessed against EU regulatory requirements and then CE marked on the UK market. The authority states that “this is intended to be for a time-limited period. We will consult with industry and provide notice before ending this time-limited period.”

More detailed information can be found in the full communication of the “Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy”.

In case of any questions regarding the market approval in the United Kingdom,
as well as UKCA- or CE marking, please do not hesitate to contact us directly:
https://cetecomadvanced.com/en/contact/