The use of the EU CE mark in the United Kingdom is being phased out and is being replaced by the UKCA / UKNI mark for Great Britain and Northern Ireland respectively.
The Conformitè Europëenne (CE) Mark is the European Union’s (EU) mandatory conformity marking for regulating the goods sold within Europe since 1985. Following the UK’s exit from the EU, new marking requirements for the UK’s own conformity assessments are being phased in. A new conformity marking is required if you wish to place certain goods in the UK market. The UKCA (UK Conformity Assessed) marking is the new UK product marking that is used for goods being placed on the market in Great Britain (England, Wales and Scotland), with different rules applying to goods placed on the Northern Ireland market. The new marking covers most goods which previously required the CE marking.
The UKCA marking came into effect on 1 January 2021, with the initial date by which goods must be compliant set for the start of 2022; however, to allow businesses time to adjust to the new requirements, this date was recently extended by a further year and you will now still be able to use the CE marking in the UK market until 1 January 2023 in most cases.
For goods placed on the UK market, the UKCA mark will be compulsory from the start of 2023. For goods placed on the Northern Ireland market, the CE mark continues to be recognised when a EU conformity assessment body is used. If the product was conformity assessed by a UK-based body, then the CE and UKNI marks are required for Northern Ireland (however such a joint marking would not be acceptable in the EU market, since goods must be manufactured to EU rules and cannot be assessed by a local body based in the UK).
Further reading and resources:
News release of date extension: click here
Information on using the UKCA marking: click here
Detailed guidance on placing goods on the market in Great Britain: click here
Information on using the UKNI marking: click here
Detailed guidance on placing goods on the market in Northern Ireland: click here
