What do changes to the UK marking system mean for your business, and how can you prepare?

The UKCA (UK Conformity Assessed) marking is the new UK product marking for goods placed on the market in Great Britain (England, Wales and Scotland).

Coming into effect at the start of 2021, it covers most of the goods that previously required the CE marking. Businesses will still be able to use the CE marking until 1st January 2023 in most cases.

How do the marking changes work?

The new GB regulatory requirements only apply to goods placed on the GB market from 1 January 2021. Nothing needs to be done to goods placed on the market prior to this date.

Products placed on multiple markets will require multiple markings. For example, a product destined for GB and the EU will require UKCA and CE markings.

What should businesses do to prepare for the changes?

Businesses now need to prepare for the changes to the UK marking system that may affect them.
It will be particularly important to:

• Check the requirements for your standards and products
• If you use a conformity assessment body, check their ability to re-test and re-certify your products
• Make changes as soon as possible
• Keep an eye out for any new announcements from the government (which will be relayed on the BSI website)

Why is it so important to get ready for the changes early?

Although the deadline for the end of the recognition of CE Marking in Great Britain has been extended to 1 January 2023, the government has made it clear there will be no further extensions.

As we get closer to the deadline, there are likely to be backlogs in manufacturing facilities and in the facilities of the UK bodies that carry out conformity assessments on products. The consequences of not acting quickly, for whatever reason, is that new products will be delayed in reaching the UK market.

What about goods destined for Northern Ireland?

Northern Ireland will continue to follow all relevant EU rules relating to the placing of manufactured goods on their [NI] market.

The EU conformity marking will continue to be used to show goods meet EU rules when using an EU Notified Body for conformity assessment. For most manufactured goods, this is the CE marking. The UKCA mark alone cannot be used on the NI market.

If you are using a UK Body to carry out conformity assessment, you will also need to apply the new UKNI marking (the UKNI mark never gets applied on its own and will always accompany an EU conformity mark, e.g., the CE mark).

The government is guaranteeing unfettered access for NI businesses to the UK market. This means that NI businesses looking to place goods on the GB market will be able to use the CE mark if they are using an EU Notified Body for conformity assessment, or the CE with the UKNI mark if they are using a UK Notified Body for conformity assessment.

You can find out whether goods qualify for unfettered access here.

How does the UKNI marking work?

You will need to use the UKNI marking if all of the following apply:

• You are placing certain goods (mostly those goods subject to the CE marking) on the Northern Ireland market
• Your goods require mandatory third-party conformity assessment
• You are planning to use a UK body to carry out those conformity assessments

You will not be able to use the UKNI marking if either of the following apply:

• You are placing goods on the market in the EU; or
• You are planning to use an EU body to carry out conformity assessments

What marking do I need to apply?

The below table will help you understand the accepted markings for each market:

 For further guidance on the topics discussed above, look here. 

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is running a series of webinars to provide businesses with information about using the new UK conformity assessment marking (UKCA) and placing goods on the market in GB and NI. Details of the sessions are available here.

BSI UKCA resources such as webinars, guidance documents, case studies and FAQs can be found here.