UKCA Regulatory Requirements Postponed Until 2024
UPDATE 1-16-23
eBayUK has posted an update about the postponed status of the UKCA requirements.
The UK regulation replacing the previous CE marking with the UKCA (UK Conformity Assessed) marking to show products meet safety, health or environmental requirements originally set to take effect January 1, 2023 has been pushed out until the end of 2024.
The UKCA regulations cover a variety of products, including:
Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy
Product areas covered by the UKCA marking
You will need to use the UKCA marking if you manufacture or handle products in the following areas:
- toys
- pyrotechnics
- recreational craft and personal watercraft
- simple pressure vessels
- electromagnetic compatibility
- non-automatic weighing instruments
- measuring instruments
- measuring container bottles
- lifts
- equipment for potentially explosive atmospheres (UKEX)
- radio equipment
- pressure equipment
- personal protective equipment (PPE)
- gas appliances
- machinery
- equipment for use outdoors
- ecodesign
- aerosols
- low voltage electrical equipment
There are also different requirement for different markets and the UKCA mark cannot be used in Northern Ireland.
Using the UKCA marking in different markets
Selling products in GB
The UKCA marking is the product marking used for products being placed on the market in Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales).The UKCA marking applies to most products for which the CE marking could be used. It also applies to aerosol products that previously required the reversed epsilon marking. The technical requirements (sometimes referred to as ‘essential requirements’) you must meet for the UKCA marking will depend on the product specific legislation for your product.
Conformity with these requirements can also be achieved by using designated standards (which the UK introduced to replace EU harmonised standards). By following designated standards, manufacturers can claim ‘presumption of conformity’ with the corresponding essential requirements that apply to their product.
The UKCA marking can be used now. However, to provide businesses with flexibility, the government will bring forward legislation that would continue to allow recognition of the CE marking and the reversed epsilon marking for most goods that are being placed on the market, or put into service before 11pm on 31 December 2024. You should check the sector specific set of regulations that apply to your product.
Read the guidance on placing manufactured products on the market in Great Britain for further information.
Selling products in NI
The UKCA marking cannot be used for products placed on the Northern Ireland market.Selling products in the EU
The UKCA marking is not recognised on the EU market. Products need a CE marking for sale in the EU.
eBay seller are wondering when the site will update its guidance and help pages in light of the postponement.
eBay had advised sellers as part of the Fall 2022 Seller Update that they would need to be in compliance with the UKCA requirements by January 1, 2023 and have not issued an update yet.
This is not intended to be an official announcement, but it appears from the UK government website that the UKCA marking, which was highlighted in the Fall 2022 Seller Update, has been changed / extended to allow continued use of the CE marking until December 31, 2024.
eBay's previous guidance was for a January 1, 2023 date, but numerous sources suggest the UK government extended the requirement by two years as of Nov 14, 2022.
eBay unfortunately shut down comments on their prior UKCA forum post, which is now out of date with the UK government changes.
While our business hardly sells anything to the UK, we do have low voltage cables which may fall under the UKCA and CE requirements, so it's something of tangential interest.
Feel free to comment and post questions here since there don't seem to be any other active conversations about the UKCA replacing the CE marking for products which require these safety markings.
One seller brought several questions they had asked back when the Fall Seller Update was released, but had never gotten an answer for.
In the original discussion I posed a question, "Remember a few years ago when eBay said sellers were required to add the California Prop 65 warning, so sellers spent countless hours adding that info to their listings because they didn't know whether or not they needed it and wanted to be safe rather than sorry? Then a few weeks later eBay says, no only manufacturers, etc need to add that info (I can't remember the specific guidelines - does anybody else)?
I wonder if this UK situation is the same. Hopefully eBay can provide more clarity."
eBay never responded to that question about whether the average seller that sells goods to the UK needs to worry about this or whether it's just the manufacturers. I started a discussion here after the seller update board was locked, but eBay failed to give a response to devon@ebay when he submitted multiple requests.
I also have a question about items produced prior to the UKCA rules go into effect - if they have the CE marking from the manufacturer, will that be sufficient and "grandfathered" in?
A rep said, "[Sellers] will still need to [update listings with the UKCA marking] for now. However, we are exploring ways to do this on behalf of the seller and hope to be able to share more details soon."
With the implementation date pushed out a year, maybe eBay will come through and sort this before it goes into effect in a similar way they handled the Prop 65 warning.
What are your thoughts on the UKCA requirements? Let us know in the comments below!
