Scenario
Starting from 2021, the United Kingdom will be a third-country for the EU. Certificates and ETAs or markings in accordance with the Construction Products Regulation (CPR), which are linked to bodies/authorities in the UK, e.g. European Technical Assessment Bodies or Notified Bodies, will no longer be valid in the EU as of 1 January 2021.
Legal background
The European Commission's notice to stakeholders on industrial products clearly indicates that certificates must be under the responsibility of an EU body to be valid to demonstrate conformity for products placed on the market as of 1 January 2021. The notice includes the CPR in the annex specifying legislation covered by it.
Please note in particular footnote 16 in the chapter on conformity assessment of the notice, which reads:
16 The legal consequences set out in this section also apply, mutatis mutandis, in relation to:
(a) European Technical Assessments issued by Technical Assessment Bodies designated by the UK authorities under Regulation (EU) No 305/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 March 2011 laying down harmonised conditions for the marketing of construction products and repealing Council Directive 89/106/EEC, OJ L 88, 4.4.2011, p.5; ...
Practical consequences
Will ETAs issued by UK TABs continue to be displayed on the EOTA website?
All ETAs issued by a British TAB will lose their validity as per 1/1/2021. Consequently, they will disappear at that date from the EOTA website. However, manufacturers may request the transfer of their ETAs and, accordingly, an EU-based TAB may re-issue the ETA.
This means that:
- ETAs for which no transfer has been requested will no longer be displayed on the EOTA website.
- In the case of a transfer, newly issued ETAs will be displayed under the name of the new EU-27-TAB.
Will it be possible for manufacturers to continue CE marking their products indefinitely when the ETA had been issued (before Brexit) by a UK designated TAB, or will a new ETA need to be issued by an EU-27 TAB?
Only products placed on the EU market before 1 January 2021 can still be marketed until they reach their end user. Any product placed on the Union market after 1 January 2021 must be covered by an ETA issued by an EU TAB and CE-marked in accordance with this ETA, as mentioned in our reply to the question above.
How can I transfer UK ETAs to another EU TAB in EOTA?
EOTA Technial Board agreed on a simplified procedure for the transfer of UK ETAs to another TAB in September 2019.
The aim of this simplified procedure is to avoid new testing of the product. This is possible as long as the EAD and ETA still represent the technical state of the art and the manufacturer does not request for an additional essential characteristic to be covered by the new ETA.
Some UK TABs have taken proactive measures to transfer all their ETAs to an EU-27-TAB. If you have not heard from your UK TAB yet, please get in touch with the UK TAB or the EU-27-TAB you would like to transfer to at your earliest convenience.
This article has been edited on 21/05/2021 without changing the general content.