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CE Markings
The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) led the business case for UK government action on extending the easement on CE marked goods being allowed to circulate in the GB market, from now until 1 January 2023. This was confirmed by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) last month. William Bain, Head of Trade Policy at the British Chambers of Commerce, commented: “The British Chambers of Commerce has led business calls for an extension of at least a year on the easement for CE markings on imported industrial goods, spare parts, and components. “Businesses will welcome this reprieve until 1 January 2023, which will protect supply chains and make a huge difference to consumers on the availability of items such as phones and laptops. “There is currently a lack of testing capacity to enable the retesting of decades worth of CE marked items for the new UKCA specification, so this measure will be hugely important in allowing time for that capacity to be built and for retesting to take place. “A wider problem does still exist however – complex supply chains such as those in the automotive industry still face having to duplicate markings on certain components and incurring large costs for testing as a result. This could compromise the output of these industries, limit availability of goods for consumers and create mounting cost pressures on British businesses.
WHAT IS A CE MARKING?
The letters ‘CE’ appear on many products that are traded on the single market in the European Economic Area (EEA). The CE marking is required for many products. It: • Shows that the manufacturer has checked that these products meet EU safety, health or environmental requirements • Is an indicator of a product’s compliance with EU legislation • Allows the free movement of products within the European market. By placing the CE marking on a product a manufacturer is declaring, on his sole responsibility, conformity with all of the legal requirements to achieve CE marking. The manufacturer is thus ensuring validity for that product to be sold throughout the EEA. This also applies to products made in third countries which are sold in the EEA and Turkey. Not all products must bear the CE marking. Only those product categories subject to specific directives that provide for the CE marking are required to be CE marked. CE marking does not mean that a product was made in the EEA, but states that the product is assessed before being placed on the market. It means the product satisfies the legislative requirements to be sold there. It means that the manufacturer has checked that the product complies with all relevant essential requirements, for example health and safety requirements.
“The Government needs to work now with businesses to ensure full consideration to the impacts are given before any decision to completely pull the plug on CE-marked goods, risking incurring costs to our economy that we may come to regret.”
If you are a manufacturer it is your responsibility to: • Carry out the conformity assessment • Set up the technical file • Issue the EC Declaration of Conformity (DoC) • Place CE marking on a product.
Revised guidance on CE marketing, plus revised guidance on placing goods on the GB market can be found on gov.uk.
If you are a distributor you must check the presence of both the CE marking and the necessary supporting documentation.
If cutting our CE marked goods, components or spare parts after December 2022 would affect your supply or manufacturing chains please let us know by emailing chamber@cambscci.co.uk.
If you are importing a product that is from a third country you have to check that the manufacturer outside the EU has undertaken the necessary steps. You must check that the documentation is available.
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