BREXIT & the implications to pressure systems

The Pressure Vessel Manufacturers Forum recently held a workshop examining the impact of BREXIT which identified some key points for end users a short summary of which is given below:

Despite the governments preferred option being to leave the EU with a deal the presentations focused on the implications of no deal
BEIS identified that in the event of no deal UK compliance against EU regulations will not be recognised, i.e. UK based notified bodies will not be able to provide CE certification
The UK will transfer most UK Notified Bodies to Approved Bodies who can award UKCA marking and certification (a UK version of the CE mark)
UKCA marking will not be accepted in the EU and CE Marking will still be required at the time products are “put into the market” after BREXIT day in Europe
The UK will replace CE marking with UKCA marking and the standards will be similar and likely mirror CE (at least at first)
The UK will accept CE marking for a time limited period after Brexit, however the length of this period is not yet defined
Different approaches are being considered for Medical Devices and Transportable Pressure Equipment
Mutual recognition agreement discussion are ongoing and/or completed with a number of non-EU countries (see slides). Discussion cannot start with the EU until post BREXIT
The intention is that standards will not be lowered
All parties clarified that the information they provided was their best understanding of the situation at the time (20th March) but things may well change dependent on ongoing discussions and/or clarification
The impact on the second-hand equipment market had not been considered at the time of the discussions.

Whilst the presentation highlighted a lot of the potential implications it was clear that a lot of issues were still to be resolved especially in the event of a Deal (depending on its nature) or transitional arrangement.

Slides from BEIS and HSE from the event can be found here:

By NEPIC

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