Indefinite extension on the use of CE marking

The Government recently announced that the deadline by which businesses must apply the UK Conformity Assessed (UKCA) marking to certain products has been extended indefinitely. This extension will apply to all goods that fall within the remit of the Department of Business and Trade and a full list of the impacted products can be found here.

The deadline had been extended on several occasions for all goods being placed on the UK market (see our previous article here) and was expected to come into force on 31 December 2024. However, this most recent extension has been introduced as part of the Government’s drive for “smarter regulation”, which is intended to give businesses more certainty, reduce unnecessary expenditure and free up capital for expansion and innovation.

As outlined above, the extension applies to a total of 18 groups of products and therefore manufacturers will need to be aware of the differing deadlines for applying the UKCA mark. For example, the indefinite extension applies to construction machinery, but does not apply to construction products since they fall within the remit of the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. The current deadline for applying the UKCA mark to construction products is 30 June 2025.

Notwithstanding the sporadic extensions, manufacturers can begin or continue to use the UKCA marking for products being placed on the UK market at any time prior to the deadlines.

With thanks to Rebecca Bell for her contributions