In a move that surprised hardly anyone with an interest, the government has extended the deadline on using the widely accepted CE marking scheme for personal protective equipment in Britain for another two years. The supposed replacement, the UKCA (UK Conformity Assessed) mark, will now not be mandatory until after 31 December 2024.
Brought in after the UK left the EU, the UKCA was planned to replace CE marking, so that there would be a UK body in charge of safety standards. The obvious flaw for motorcycle kit makers – potentially having to re-test kit which would already have been CE tested, increasing costs and red tape, seemed to be ignored by backers of the UKCA scheme. The scheme would also only apply in Great Britain, leaving Northern Ireland bikers under the CE scheme, and further complicating logistics for kit makers.
CE marking is required for goods sold in the European Economic Area, so isn’t directly linked with the EU – but it seems to have been caught up in the post-Brexit drive to eradicate all European regulations from the UK/GB, regardless of how practical that might be. It remains to be seen if the UKCA will ever become the only statutory standard allowed in GB – or if another extension will come along in 2024.