Two become four
The fi rst of January 1995 is a distant memory, but the EU Machinery Safety Directive
became mandated in the UK on that date and saw the CE mark of conformity become
a visible feature on many commercial and industrial products, including machine tools.
As of 1 January 2021, for goods placed onto the market in Great Britain (England,
Scotland and Wales), the new UKCA regime starts to replace that. Andrew Allcock explains
As the good ship Brexit sets sail next month,
every four years by “elected institutions in Northern
Ireland”, with the rst date being 2024.
Products to be sold in the EU (including the larger
European Economic Area, EEA, that includes Iceland,
Liechtenstein and Norway, and which shares EU internal
market rules) will still need CE marking. UKCA will have no
legitimacy in the EU (or Northern Ireland) and, importantly,
there are no transition arrangements in the EU as is the
case for Great Britain’s move to UKCA.
Just as a recap, the Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC
( www.is.gd/vihope ) is part of the EU’s economic
legislation. It applies to products designed to be sold
(or enabled) in the European Union for the rst time.
It addresses manufacturers, importers and dealers of
machinery and safety components, and applies to new
equipment (except in one particular circumstance – see
the replacement of two letters – CE (Conformité
Européenne) – with four – UKCA (UK Conformity
Assessed) – will commence on 1 January for machine
tools in respect of supply to Great Britain. It’s not an
abrupt change, there’s a transition period and some
quali cations, but from 1 January 2022, the UKCA regime
becomes the requirement for machine tools placed on the
GB market. Northern Ireland retains the CE marking
regime, although Howard Wheeler, senior consultant at
Finch Consulting ( www.fi nch-consulting.com ), says there is
talk of a UKNI mark but that the situation is uid and
there is no detail.
Government guidance on placing goods onto the
Northern Ireland market ( www.is.gd/sugoto ) indicates that
the question of regulatory alignment can be revisited
The port of Dover is
a UK border where
the CE mark will no
longer be valid
from January 2022
for machine tools
sold into the GB
market
10 December 2020 | www.machinery.co.uk | MachineryMagazine | @MachineryTweets
/vihope
/nch-consulting.com
/sugoto
/www.machinery.co.uk