In February, the ICF’s Technical Committee was briefed by the NSAI on the impact of Brexit on standards, certification and testing.

While much of the focus on Brexit justifiably relates to the direct impact on exporters, Brexit will have also impact on producers who place products on the domestic market. A summary of some of these key impacts are outlined below.

Standards (hENs)

  • The UK is drafting legislation on standards, which will be a mirror image of EU legislation and standards, to facilitate ongoing trade post-Brexit. It is likely that for the foreseeable future, product standards within the UK will be the same as in the EU.
  • Immediately post-Brexit, the UK will continue to accept the CE mark for the placing of products on the UK market.

Certification

  • In the event of a “No Deal” Brexit, UK based notified bodies will cease to be EU notified bodies for the purpose of CE Marking with effect from 11pm on March 29th 2019. This means that existing certificates based on audits or testing by UK Notified Bodies will become invalid and must be replaced by certificates issued by a notified body within the EU.
  • Some notified bodies in the UK have already, or are in the process of establishing operations in other EU member states in order to be in a position to provide certification post-Brexit. These bodies will need a new registration number in order to certify products or processes for the purpose of placing products on the EU market post-Brexit. They will also have to be listed on the NANDO website as an EU notified body.
  • Manufacturers need to ensure that their notified body will continue to be registered within the EU and listed on the NANDO website post-Brexit.

Importing

  • Companies purchasing products directly from UK manufacturers will automatically have increased responsibilities post-Brexit, requiring increased record keeping, as they effectively become an importer from a third country.
  • Importers should ensure that the notified (certification) body being used by UK suppliers are registered within the EU post-Brexit.

Exporting

  • In the future, the UK will introduce a “UKQA” mark for products placed on the UK market which will be similar to the CE mark.  Inevitably this will mean that exporters from the EU to the UK will require a CE mark for trade within the EU and a UKQA mark for exports to the UK. In the interim, the CE mark will suffice for exporting to the UK.

A copy of the NSAI presentation to the ICF Technical committee is available on the members area of this website or click here.