The UKCA Mark
With Brexit, the United Kingdom, among other things, has launched the UKCA mark, the correspondent of the European CE.
The UKCA mark means United Kingdom Conformity Assessed and:
- it may be displayed on products from January 1st, 2021,
- between 2021 and 2022 the products may alternatively bear the CE mark or the UKCA mark,
- it must be displayed on most products currently marked CE from January 1st, 2023,
- it is used in a manner similar to the CE marking.
The display of the UKCA mark attests to compliance with the relevant UK rules for the specific type of product, as well as the display of the CE mark in the European Union attests to compliance with the relevant directives or regulations. In this regard, the United Kingdom has established that for the time being European Product Directives and Regulations are “frozen” in the state of 2019 within the national legislation. Some examples below:
- Machine Directive 2006/42/CE “frozen” in UK legal system as “Supply of Machinery (Safety) Regulations 2008”,
- Low Voltage Directive 2014/35/EU “frozen” in British law as “Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 2016”,
- Electromagnetic Compatibility Directive 2014/30/EU EU “frozen” in the British legal system as “Electromagnetic Compatibility Regulations 2016”.
This means that the imminent replacement of the Machinery Directive by the new Regulation will not be reflected in Great Britain, where the old text will probably continue to be used, unless later changes that will probably lead to a different evolution over time.
As for the CE marking, also for UKCA the manufacturer must draw up a Declaration of Conformity for its products. The form for the moment is quite similar to that of the European Union.
Notified Bodies and Approved Bodies
In Unione Europea per la marcatura CE di diverse tipologie di prodotti è richiesto un “Organismo Notificato”. Per il marchio UKCA vi è un identico requisito, salvo per il fatto che gli organismi sono detti “Organismi Approvati” e devono avere riconoscimento in Gran Bretagna. Tutti gli “Organismi Approvati” sono elencati nel database del sito UK Market Conformity Assessment Bodies UKMCAB.
Per i prodotti per i quali non è richiesto un “Organismo Approvato” il fabbricante redigerà una Dichiarazione di Conformità sotto forma di autocertificazione, esattamente come per la marcatura CE.
Laddove fosse richiesto un “Organismo Approvato” la marcatura dovrà recarne l’identificazione, come nell’esempio seguente:
The role of technical standards is also recognized in the UKCA marking, Le norme che in Unione Europea sono definite “harmonized” in Gran Bretagna sono “Designated Standards” and confer the presumption of conformity to the Essential Requirements of the Reference Regulations, exactly as for the CE marking.
In Northern Ireland products must bear the CE marking: the UKCA mark is not recognised.