Eurofins | Newsflash - March 2019 | Brexit: Toys & Childcare

UK

BREXIT: the countdown

On 29^th March 2017, the Government of the United Kingdom (UK) submitted the notification of its intention to withdraw from European Union (EU) according to Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union. The UK is due to leave the EU on 29^th March 2019, at 12 pm UK time, and it will then become a third country not member of the EU. EU legislations will cease to apply in the UK. Currently, UK and EU are still negotiating a Withdrawal Agreement.

Both the European Commission and the United Kingdom make available on their websites the latest news about the on-going negotiations and information about the worst case scenario, ‘no deal’ Brexit scenario.

On 19^th February 2019, the European Commission published: “Political declaration setting out the framework for the future relationship between the European Union and the United Kingdom (2019/C 66 I/02)”

If you are a manufacturer, importer, distributor, responsible person, retailer or consumer, it is important that you are aware of the possible ‘no deal’ Brexit scenario in which you may need to adopt different roles and obligations from the current ones.

A brief summary has been included below for different sectors and how could the fact of not having an agreement between UK and EU affect them:

Toys

Toys fall within the ‘new approach’ set of legislation.  As such, most of the toys on the market are self-certified by the manufacturer and CE mark attached to labelling on that basis. 

The current system of EU Notified Bodies is required when there are hazards identified on the toy that are not fully covered by the harmonised standards. 

If the UK exits without a deal, UK Notified Bodies will not be recognised by the EU and, as such, conformity assessments they have made will no longer be valid for products to be placed on the EU.

The files can be transferred to an EU based Notified Body.  The UK will continue to recognise EU based Notified Body reports for an, as yet, undefined time period. 

New toy products to be placed on the UK market that require third party conformity assessment will be able to use the existing Notified Bodies that are currently based in the UK that will automatically be transferred to UK ‘Approved Bodies’ and will become listed on the UK version of the Nando database.  

In this case, toys will be labelled with the new UKCA mark as defined below. However, for these toys requiring third party conformity assessment, a separate EU Notified Body assessment will be needed to place the toy on the EU market.

Toys that are self-certified and thus do not require third party conformity assessment and are labelled with the CE mark can continue to be placed on both the EU and UK markets.  Manufacturers will be able to use the UKCA mark as well as the CE mark in this scenario.

• Trading goods regulated under the ‘New Approach’ if there’s no Brexit deal: relevant for other types of product, e.g. toys.

CE mark and UKCA mark

On 2^nd February 2019, the UK government published the guidance  to replace the CE mark on products in the case of a no-deal Brexit scenario.

The UKCA (UK Conformity Assessed) would be the new UK mark to demonstrate compliance with the legal requirements to sell certain products in the UK.

Most products which are currently covered by CE marking would fall within the scope of the new UKCA marking. Products made in the UK which are exported to the European Union may have to be stamped with two marks - CE for EU market and UKCA for Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

In a “no deal” scenario, the results of conformity assessment carried out by UK conformity assessment bodies will no longer be recognised in the EU. Hence, UK manufacturers wanting to sell products that require conformity assessment and are not self-certifying (within the scope of CE marking legislations) in the EU will have to go through an EU recognised conformity assessment body (or arrange for assessments to be transferred to an EU-recognised body before the UK leaves the EU).

For EU manufacturers that wish to place products on the UK market that require conformity assessment, the UK will continue to recognise EU based Notified Body reports although an, as yet, undefined period of acceptance has been given.

Use Rules for UKCA would vary depending on the specific legislation that applies to the product. But the idea is very similar to CE mark with similar legal requirements (Technical documentation, Declaration of Conformity, marking, labelling, etc...) and responsibilities for manufacturer or responsible person placing the product on the market.

Notified Body

The European Commission and the UK Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy have published the following information about the no deal scenario for Notified Bodies:

• Brexit – Guidance to stakeholders on impact in the field of industrial products.
• Guidance: Trading goods regulated under the ‘New Approach’ if there’s no Brexit deal

Key points are highlighted below:

UKAS will continue as the UK’s appointed national accreditation body. Its role in accrediting UK Approved Bodies will be the same as its current role for UK-based Notified Bodies.

Additional information

The UK Government and European Commission have made available a series of guidance documents with information on how to prepare if the UK leaves the EU with no deal. Below the list of the most recent documents:

• Trading with the EU if there is no Brexit deal: the implications for the trade of goods between the UK and EU countries
• Classifying your goods in the UK Trade Tariff if there is no Brexit deal
• Appointing nominated persons to your business if there’s no Brexit deal
• Trading under the mutual recognition principle if there’s no Brexit deal