As you may be aware, UKCA marking came into effect on 1 January 2021. However, to allow businesses time to adjust to the new requirements, you will still be able to use the CE marking until 1 January 2022 in most cases.

If you placed goods on the UK market (or in an EU or EEA state) before 1 January 2021, you do not need to do anything for these individual goods.

EEA states include any country in the EU, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.

They can continue to circulate on either market until they reach their end user and do not need to comply with the changes that took effect from 1 January 2021. This guidance explains what you need to do for any goods you are placing on the GB market after 1 January 2021.

Goods that are lawfully CE marked will be accepted in the UK until 1 January 2022 for certain products. You must be ready to use the UKCA marking from 1 January 2022 at the latest, although you should look to use the UKCA marking as soon as possible.

If you’re a Northern Ireland business, you can place qualifying Northern Ireland goods on the GB market with an EU conformity assessment marking, such as the CE marking.

The table below illustrates the accepted markings on each relevant market.

The CE marking is only valid in Great Britain for areas where GB and EU rules remain the same. If the EU changes its rules and you CE mark your product on the basis of those new rules you will not be able to use the CE marking to sell in Great Britain, even before 31 December 2021.

In terms of how this affects the serial plates you purchase from Alpha, in most cases it will be a case of adding the UKCA mark to the existing artwork.