Government Guidance on Placing Goods on the Market in Northern Ireland
10 November 2020
Government has published updated guidance on placing goods on the Northern Ireland market from 1st January 2021. The key points and link to the full guidance is in this BEAMA Bulletin.
The Government has today published guidance https://www.gov.uk/guidance/placing-manufactured-goods-on-the-market-in-northern-ireland-from-1-january-2021
This compiles previous guidance published by Government and notified to BEAMA members with the following key points:
1) Any products placed on the GB, NI or EU market before 1st January 2021 do not need any changes. This includes where a contract of sale has been agreed even where the product has not been physically transferred.
2) Products that are currently CE marked will continue to bear CE marking for NI beyond the period when UKCA marking becomes mandatory in GB. If the product is
- self-declared; or
- any mandatory third-party conformity is carried out by an EU Notified Body; or
- a mandatory UK certificate of conformity has been re-issued by an EU NB,
then CE marking alone will indicate regulatory compliance, including for any onward sales into the EU or GB.
3) If the product requires mandatory third-party conformity assessment and this is certified solely by a UK Approved Body, the product must have CE UKNI marking. A product with UKNI marking cannot be placed on the EU market.
4) The Government is guaranteeing unfettered access for NI Goods to the GB market without the need for additional approvals or markings, so NI CE marked products can be sold into GB without needing UKCA marking even after it becomes mandatory for GB products. The definition of NI ‘qualifying goods’ is still to be published but “will be available shortly”.
5) If a GB Manufacturer is selling to an NI Distributor, the NI Distributor will be an Importer for CE marking purposes so will need to add their name and address to the product in some way as well as taking responsibility for holding the Declaration of Conformity and having access to the technical file.
