Commenting on the announcement of new legislation on UKCA marking, Head of Trade Policy William Bain said: 

“In the midst of a cost of doing business crisis for many firms across Great Britain, this announcement brings welcome respite from major changes on electrical and consumer products. 

“Businesses will be breathing a huge sigh of relief as this decision pushes back costly alterations on product marking that were due to come into effect in a matter of weeks. 

“BCC research carried out last year found that only 8% of business were in favour of getting rid of the current EU marking system, called CE, by the start of 2023, and 59% of businesses, affected by the decision, wanted to keep it. 

“They see strong benefits in having a single system for testing and marking of industrial and electrical goods for business. Having to use two marking systems, one for in the UK and one for the EU market, will increase costs and also lead to limited choice for customers if firms decide not to do both. 

“The BCC firmly believes there should be no changes on product marking until beyond 2026, and for the issue of UKCA and CE certification to be resolved then for all products.  

“Today’s push back is a welcome first step, but much deeper engagement with industry is still needed to devise a plan that works to avoid extra costs for both importing and exporting businesses, and consumers. 

“Ultimately we also need a system that will avoid any unnecessary future cliff-edges on compliance.”