Official announcement! UK extends CE mark validity by one year

On August 24th local time , the British government issued an announcement stating that taking into account the impact of the epidemic on businesses, the government will extend the expiration date of the CE mark from January 1, 2022 to January 1, 2023.

However, the British government also emphasized that if the EU updates the regulations on CE certification before January 1, 2023, products certified by companies in accordance with these new regulations will not be able to enter the British market. In this case, only products with the UKCA mark will be accepted by the British market.

The UKCA mark is a new British product conformity mark, which is used for products placed on the market in Great Britain (including England, Wales and Scotland, excluding Northern Ireland). Before Brexit, products with the EU CE mark could enter the UK market, but as the dust settled on Brexit, the UK began to get rid of EU regulations in many aspects and formulate laws applicable to the country, including the UKCA mark.

The UKCA mark can be used from January 1 this year, but in order to give companies time to adapt to the new requirements, the British government originally stated that most products can still be affixed with the CE mark before January 1, 2022, and now its validity period has been extended by one year.

Although the validity period of the CE mark has been extended, the British government has called on companies to use the UKCA mark on their products as soon as possible. According to foreign media Mondaq, a key driving factor for the extension is the lack of UK-approved institutions that can provide conformity assessment services.

What products need to be marked with the UKCA mark? Most products that previously required the CE mark need to be marked with the UKCA mark. Products such as toys, personal protective equipment, and electronic appliances need to be marked with the UKCA mark.

After obtaining UKCA certification, the company can put the logo on the product itself or on the outer packaging. In some cases, it can be placed in the user manual or other supporting documents. This will vary depending on the specific regulations applicable to the product.

U.K.

UKCA certification

CE certification