On Monday 14 November, Business Secretary Grant Shapps announced that recognition of the CE marking and reversed epsilon marking would be extended until 31 December 2024. The measure is designed to reduce burdens on businesses and help them to navigate current supply chain issues by providing more flexibility.

LEIA has recognised that the legislation will:

• “Reduce labelling costs by continuing to allow businesses to affix the UKCA marking, and to include importer information for products from EEA countries (and in some cases, Switzerland) on an accompanying document or a label until 31 December 2027.

• Reduce re-testing costs for UKCA certification by allowing conformity assessment activities for CE marking undertaken by 31 December 2024 to be used by manufacturers as the basis for UKCA marking, until the expiry of the certificate or until 31 December 2027, whichever is sooner.”

The changes will be passed as a Statutory Instrument designed to come into force before the end of the year.