The document provides clarifications on the status of UK and Northern Ireland after the transition period

The European Commission, DG GROW, published a revised version of the notice addressed to stakeholders and dealing with industrial products. The update takes into account the transition period ending on 31 December 2020.

The notice concerns the EU-rules for products and stresses on several points that:

  • an ‘importer’ – the person who places on the market a product manufactured in a country out of the EU – originally settled in UK will have to be re-located in the EU.
  • a manufacturer representative – person responsible within the EU for the product placed on the EU market when the manufacturer is not settled in the EU – will have to follow the same rule. For example, EU type-approvals , if the manufacturer is settled in UK, will need to be updated with the addition of a representative in the EU.UK notified bodies, in charge of conformity assessment procedures, will not longer be recognised in the European Union. Hence, manufacturers will have to work with a notified body of the EU.
  • Any individual product produced before the end of the transition period, will be considered as “placed on the market” as long as the sale contract or on-line sale is done in this timeframe. The product can arrive physically afterwards to the UK territory and will have to satisfy the EU rules.
  • The situation in Northern Ireland is subject to the protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland for 4 years after the end of the transition period, and will be subject to periodic consent from the Northern Ireland legislative assembly. In particular, main EU regulations such as the Machinery Directive, Pressure Equipment Directive, Waste Directive…) remain applicable in Northern Ireland.

More details are given in this DOCUMENT

EU – UK negotiations will define trade and regulatory rules to be followed after the transition period is over.