UK Government Extends CE Mark Recognition Indefinitely

Extension gives businesses added flexibility for selling products in the UK

On Aug. 1, the Department for Business and Trade announced that recognition of the CE mark would be extended indefinitely, allowing CE marked products to be sold on the U.K. market after this date. Following withdrawal from the European Union, the U.K. government had originally set a deadline for CE mark recognition in the U.K. until December 2024, after which only the U.K. Conformity Assessed (UKCA) mark would be recognized.

This change reduces uncertainty over regulations and may "cut business costs and time required to place products on the market," benefitting manufacturers and consumers across multiple industries and product categories, including:

• Construction products
• Cosmetics
• Electrical goods
• Machinery
• Measuring instruments
• Medical devices and in vitro diagnostic devices
• Toys

In addition, this indefinite extension may be welcome news to manufacturers who left the EU due to regulatory changes, such as the Medical Device Regulation, the In Vitro Diagnostic Regulation, and a plethora of new EU legislation, including battery regulations and the General Product Safety Regulation.

The extent to which the UKCA mark will be used is unknown, given that CE compliance to the larger trading bloc of the EU will be jointly recognized regardless. Further changes to the U.K. legislation may be forthcoming, necessitating that companies preparing regulatory submissions in the U.K. plan ahead.