Businesses will be given an additional 2 years to apply new product safety marking, giving thousands of businesses the freedom to focus on growth, Business Secretary Grant Shapps has announced today (Monday 14 November).

The UK Conformity Assessed (UKCA) marking has been introduced as part of the UK’s own robust regulatory framework. It shows that products comply with our product safety regulations which are designed to protect consumers.

However, given the difficult economic conditions created by post-pandemic shifts in demand and supply, alongside Putin’s war in Ukraine and the associated high energy prices, the government does not want to burden business with the requirement to meet the original (31 December 2022) deadline.

The government will continue to recognise the CE marking for 2 years, therefore allowing businesses until 31 December 2024 to prepare for the UKCA marking. Businesses can also use the UKCA marking, giving them flexibility to choose which marking to apply.

Business Secretary Grant Shapps said:

The government is determined to remove barriers to businesses so they can get on with their top priorities, like providing quality customer service, enabling growth and supporting their staff.

This move will give businesses the breathing space and flexibility they need at this crucial time and ensure that our future system for product safety marking is fit for purpose, providing the highest standard for consumers without harming businesses.

To support manufacturers, the government is also reviewing the wider product safety framework, ensuring we minimise the burdens on business while keeping our system up to date with new innovative methods such as e-labelling.

As part of this, the government will make it easier than ever for businesses to apply product markings.

This package will give thousands of businesses, including electronics and lift manufacturers, additional time to focus on delivering growth and creating jobs, while giving them flexibility in how they meet their legal obligations.

There will be different rules for medical devices, construction products, cableways, transportable pressure equipment, unmanned aircraft systems, rail products, and marine equipment. Government departments responsible for these sectors are making sector specific arrangements.

The UKCA marking covers most goods which previously required the CE marking, known as ‘new approach’ goods, in addition to aerosols that previously required the ‘reverse epsilon’ marking.

Whilst the UKCA marking can be used now this extension means businesses can choose to use the CE marking until 31 December 2024.

This sits alongside measures to reduce the costs of retesting products and labelling.

To reduce labelling costs, we will allow businesses to affix the UKCA marking and include importer information for products from EEA countries on an accompanying document or label until 31 December 2027.

We will also allow conformity assessment activities for CE marking undertaken by 31 December 2024 to be used by manufacturers as the basis for the UKCA marking, until 31 December 2027.

To extend the deadline, the government has today laid secondary legislation before Parliament which, subject to parliamentary approval, will implement these measures.

Businesses have been able to use the UKCA mark since 1 January 2021 to demonstrate their conformity with product standards in England, Scotland and Wales.

Under the terms of the Protocol, Northern Ireland will continue to recognise the CE marking for goods placed on the market in Northern Ireland. They will need to use the UKNI marking if they use a UK Conformity Assessment Body to test their products.

The government has published the UK Market Conformity Assessment Bodies database which businesses can use to identify the appropriate body to certify their products.

To find out which regulations apply to your product, businesses should read the Product safety for businesses: A to Z of industry, guidance published by the Office for Product Safety and Standards.

• The Prime Minister arrives at the G20 Summit in Indonesia today (Monday) for talks with the leaders of the world’s biggest economies
• He will stress the need for coordinated global action to bring down the cost of living and end the war in Ukraine, which is devastating the global economy
• Summit will be the first encounter between a British PM and a Russian representative since the brutal invasion in February

The Prime Minister will call for coordinated global action to address international economic instability and the rising cost of living when he attends the G20 Summit this week. The meeting in Indonesia comes as countries around the world face huge economic difficulties, caused or exacerbated by the illegal invasion of Ukraine.

Every household on the planet is feeling the impact of Putin’s war. Global food prices have been driven up by his attempts to choke off the Ukrainian grain supply, energy bills have skyrocketed thanks to Russia turning off their gas taps and the World Bank predicts the economic aftershocks will ripple around the world for years to come.

This week’s meeting will be the first time a UK Prime Minister has met a representative of the Russian regime since Putin’s full-scale invasion in February. Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov is expected to attend the talks instead of Putin.

The Prime Minister will use the G20 as an opportunity to call out Putin’s barbarism and force Russia to confront the global suffering caused by this senseless campaign of violence.

The best and quickest way to alleviate these problems is for Putin to withdraw from Ukraine. But while this war continues, the world’s most powerful economies have a crucial role to play in addressing the desperate global economic situation.

G20 leaders first met during the global financial crisis in 2008, in recognition of the fact that our complex and international economic system cannot function without coordinated action from the most powerful economies. This year, the world is looking to the G20 again to ensure the stability of international markets and alleviate the burden on the world’s poorest people.

Ahead of this week’s summit the Prime Minister has set out a five-point economic action plan for leaders to address the current global instability, covering changes to the global energy market, international food supply and the world financial system.

This action will ensure a firm platform for the domestic measures the Chancellor will set out in this week’s Autumn Statement.

The Prime Minister said:

Later this week the Autumn Statement will set out how we will get this country on the right path, put public finances on a stable footing and get debt falling.

Creating a stable international system that protects the most vulnerable will be a core part of that work.

But addressing the biggest economic crisis in a decade will require a concerted effort by the world’s largest economies – these are not problems we can solve alone. At the G20, leaders need to step up to fix the weaknesses in the international economic system which Putin has exploited for years.

Under the five-point economic action plan, the Prime Minister will call on fellow leaders to:

Direct government support to where it’s most needed. Using government support effectively to prioritise the most vulnerable, both in our own countries and internationally.

End the weaponisation of food production and distribution. Taking immediate action to support the global food trade to reduce the cost of living for all and save the lives of those at risk of starvation. This includes calling for the Black Sea Grain Initiative to be renewed on 19th November and a G20-wide commitment never to weaponise food production and distribution.

Strengthen our energy security and reduce energy dependence on Russia. We must bring an end Russia’s stranglehold over international energy prices. As part of these efforts we will work with partners to unlock the investment needed to accelerate the green transition – the best way of protecting ourselves from those who have perpetually used hydrocarbons to bully and coerce.

Open up global trade. This includes by advancing bilateral free trade agreements and through reform of the World Trade Organization. We need a WTO fit to release the opportunities of the 21st century while tackling the manipulation of global markets by malign actors.

Providing honest, reliable finance to help developing countries grow sustainably. Ensuring that the international financial system has the firepower needed to help developing countries grow without becoming dependent on their lenders. This includes rapid action to help poor countries better manage their debt burdens and providing an alternative to developing countries borrowing from exploitative sources.

These efforts form part of the Prime Minister’s drive to place economic stability and confidence at the heart of this government’s agenda. That means being a constructive and reliable member to the global economy, and using our influence to create a stronger international economic system.

Leaders take responsibility. They show up. Yet, at the G20 summit in Indonesia this week, one seat will remain vacant.

The man who is responsible for so much bloodshed in Ukraine and economic strife around the world will not be there to face his peers. He won’t even attempt to explain his actions. Instead, he will stay at home and the rest of us will get on with the task at hand.

Last week, we saw the Ukrainian flag raised once again over Kherson only weeks after Putin declared that the city would be part of Russia forever. It is an historic milestone in Ukraine’s fight to take back what’s theirs. They are standing up for fundamental principles that matter to us all – the principles of sovereignty and self-determination, which are the very foundations of a stable international order.

But we know the Ukrainian people are still suffering terribly under the continued Russian bombardment and prolonged power blackouts in near-freezing temperatures.

That’s why when I spoke to Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, last Thursday, I made clear that Britain will never back down when it comes to supporting the Ukrainian people in the face of this brutality.

We will continue training Ukrainian troops and providing vital defensive military equipment, like the additional 1,000 air defence missiles and more than 25,000 extreme cold winter kits that I pledged last week. We remain the largest European military donor to Ukraine, delivering £2.3 billion of support this year.

There is no doubt that the war in Ukraine is fuelling the challenges facing countries across the world. That’s why as I hold my first meetings with Joe Biden, the US president, and other leaders during the summit, we will be clear that discussions about how we can continue to back Ukraine are inseparable from those on how we can strengthen our collective economic security.

As we recover from a pandemic that almost broke the world economy, every household on the planet is feeling the fallout from the war in Ukraine. Global food prices have been hit by Vladimir Putin’s attempts to choke off Ukrainian grain exports – two-thirds of which go to developing countries. Energy bills have skyrocketed thanks to Russia turning off the gas taps.

The result is that two-thirds of G20 members are now experiencing inflation rates above seven per cent and the IMF predicts that a third of the world’s economy will be in recession next year.

I know that people are struggling. Across the UK, families are feeling the squeeze. The weekly shop costs more than ever, and people are anxious about the next bill to land on their doormat.

So we will continue to deliver help at home, but we also need to see coordinated global action like we saw in response to the financial crisis in 2008.

Russia is trying to asphyxiate the global economy. We must join together to stop them in their tracks and restore economic stability. There are five points where we need to see action.

First and foremost, we must keep delivering urgent support where it’s needed most in the winter ahead. We are helping the people of Ukraine as their national infrastructure is attacked by drones and missiles – just as we are supporting people with their rising energy bills back in Britain and taking action to prevent famine in the most vulnerable parts of the world.

Second, we must put an end to Russia’s appalling weaponisation of food. I am supporting the UN secretary-general to keep grain shipments moving in the Black Sea and urging all those countries who can produce more food or release stockpiles to do so, in order to help increase supply.

Third, we must take urgent action to protect our economic security and bolster our resilience against malign actors. This means securing our supply chains and rapidly transitioning from dependence on energy from countries like Russia, who seek to use it against us. We must show authoritarian aggressors that we are in it for the long haul.

Fourth, we must remain utterly committed to the promotion of free markets and an open global economy in which enterprise drives growth – and the UK will continue leading the way, utilising our Brexit freedoms to pursue free trade agreements around the world. Our prosperity and our security go hand in hand.

Finally, we must work together with our partners – governments, the private sector and intentional financial institutions – to provide the financial stability and probity that the international economic situation demands. That means calling out those who exploit their lending power to create debt traps in emerging economies and also tackling the causes of rising inflation head on.

We will not let our economic future be held hostage by the actions of a rogue state – and nor will our allies. Instead, we will stand with Ukraine and we will work to deliver on each element of this five-point plan, promoting free markets and a global economy that is stronger, more stable and more resilient, and that delivers a faster return to growth.

This is what the world expects from the responsible members of the G20 – and I know that the UK will emerge the other side of this crisis stronger than before.

Previously published in The Daily Telegraph

• The support will help with essential repairs to critical energy infrastructure following ongoing Russian attacks,and will reconnect households and key facilities to power supply.
• The UK is the largest donor to the Fund so far, along with sending hospital generators and a financial guarantee for Ukraine’s state-owned energy provider.

Ukraine will have further UK support to keep the lights on across the country and repair energy infrastructure damaged by Russian attacks, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly announced today.

The UK is so far the biggest donor to the Ukraine Energy Support Fund. This latest funding will provide specialised energy equipment to keep critical national infrastructure up and running – a priority request from the Government of Ukraine.

Since October 2022, Russia has carried out widespread missile and drone strikes, particularly targeting Ukraine’s power supplies. More than 40% of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, including transmission lines, power stations and pipelines, has been damaged or destroyed by Russian attacks. This has left millions of Ukrainians across the country living without electricity or experiencing rolling blackouts.

Recently the UK has also provided £7 million for over 850 generators so that vital facilities, such as hospitals, have power and a further £5 million for safety and security equipment for the civil nuclear sector. In addition, the UK has put up a $50 million guarantee for financing for Ukraine’s state-owned energy provider, Ukrenergo, through the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development which will help Ukraine continue to supply electricity to its citizens.

The Foreign Secretary is due to sign the agreement today with Ukrainian Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko, alongside Energy Community Secretariat Deputy Director Dirk Buschle, to transfer the first £5 million of the UK’s £10 million commitment to the Energy Community’s Ukraine Energy Support Fund.

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said:

Russia’s attacks on vital infrastructure show that Putin is resorting to desperate measures. But even in the face of missile attacks and blackouts, the resolve of the Ukrainian people remains unbroken.

The Government of Ukraine said it needed specialised energy equipment to repair critical national infrastructure, and the UK is delivering on their request.

The UK has made the largest donation to date to this Fund. We need all partners to step up their support and show Putin that his attempts to destroy Ukraine will be met with fierce resistance.

Ukrainian Minister of Energy Herman Halushchenko said:

Russia is trying to break us by shelling the energy infrastructure to leave Ukrainians on the eve of winter without heat and light. These days the support of international partners is more important than ever.

UK has been helping Ukraine’s energy sector since the beginning of the Russian invasion. Today it is making a significant contribution to the Energy Support Fund.

This will make it possible to purchase the necessary equipment for our energy companies, which is difficult to do as a part of humanitarian aid.

Many thanks to our British partners and the Energy Community Secretariat for the help in the fight against Russia on the energy front.

The private sector also has an important role in supporting Ukraine’s reconstruction. That’s why the Business and Energy Secretary Grant Shapps is issuing a call to action to UK industry today to consider supplying emergency energy equipment, such as power generators, transformers, and cables-wires and connectors.

Business and Energy Secretary Grant Shapps said:

We cannot stand by and watch millions of innocent Ukrainian citizens continue to suffer due to barbaric Russian air strikes. Today’s intervention from the UK Government will be critical in helping to get Ukraine’s power back up and running.

But this alone simply won’t suffice. In Ukraine’s hour of need, I call on the generosity of the UK industry to join the Government in donating emergency energy equipment and resources through the Energy Support Fund. This will help rebuild what has been damaged by Putin’s illegal invasion as we continue to stand with the people of Ukraine.

The Department for International Trade is also working with relevant UK trade associations and Ukrainian energy companies to identify areas where UK expertise and equipment can be provided to help with vital maintenance of Ukraine’s energy supply infrastructure.

With hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian families without electricity, heating and hot water as winter sets in, support to Ukraine is needed more than ever. The Ukraine Energy Support Fund is a transparent and efficient vehicle for international donors seeking to help Ukraine repair and rebuild its energy infrastructure which has been brutally damaged by Russia.

The donation of the United Kingdom is a great show of solidarity and will bring essential aid to Ukraine by allowing the purchase of much needed tools and critical equipment needed to restore essential electricity and gas services to Ukrainian citizens.

ENDS

Notes to Editors

1. The Energy Community is an international organisation consisting of the European Union and a number of non-EU countries. Since March 2022, it has been coordinating donations of specialised energy equipment to repair Ukraine’s energy infrastructure at the Government of Ukraine’s request.
2. Ukraine was exporting electricity to the rest of Europe until exports were suspended on October 12th this year due to the damage to critical infrastructure. This funding will support the Ukrainian government to rebuild the electricity sector and provide much-needed supply to the international market over the longer term.
3. The UK’s offer of £10 million to the Energy Support Fund was announced at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in July 2022.