26 August 2021 
Ashley Shelbrooke, HEPA and Project Specialist
The government has agreed to extend by one year the requirement for UK businesses to start using the new UK safety marking on products.
The UK Conformity Assessed (UKCA) marking is a new UK product marking that is used for goods being placed on the market in Great Britain (England, Wales and Scotland). It covers most goods which previously required the CE marking, known as ‘new approach’ goods.
The original UKCA implementation deadline was 1 January 2022, but this deadline has now been extended to 1 January 2023. This extension allays concerns from manufacturers about their ability to meet the original deadline and the impact on imported components.
However, Helen Thomas in the FT notes that some suppliers in Europe and the rest of the world are unwilling to bear the cost of recertifying their products or overhauling their manufacturing processes, suggesting that this extension may not solve some underlying issues with the UKCA marking. We will keep members updated as the new - extended - deadline approaches.
