Steve Brambley
An extension is needed to the timetable for implementing UKCA marking, according to trade association Gambica. And difficulties affecting travel to undertake servicing or maintenance work in the EU are likely to emerge when Covid restrictions ease, said the organisation’s chief executive Steve Brambley, who was speaking about the effect of Brexit on industry.
The UKCA mark is set to replace CE marking to signify compliance with regulations for products made in the UK following Brexit. Gambica, which represents firms in sectors including instrumentation, control and automation, successfully lobbied for an extension beyond the Brexit transition period to the end of 2021, during which CE marking can still be used to place products on the market in the UK.
But Mr Brambley said further concerns had emerged. “We’ve identified a number of cases where vendors have many part numbers – we have one example where a vendor has 14,500 different parts, small electronic components. To update the printing templates for 14,500 different parts, with difficult shapes and where there’s not much room on them, will need a lot of resources and a lot of time.” So the organisation is lobbying for an extension for the transitional arrangements which currently allow UKCA marking to go on the packaging or the documentation that accompany a product, but not necessarily on the product itself.
Mr Brambley also highlighted potential difficulties affecting companies whose staff work in the EU or need to take equipment to EU countries. Though visas or work permits will not be required for conferences and exhibitions, they will be needed for activities such as servicing, maintenance, emergency repairs, installation, calibration and commissioning. “All 27 member states can have a different regime for work permits and visas, which makes it very difficult to understand what the requirements are,” said Brambley.
If a work permit is unexpectedly required, that could mean a delay or days of weeks, affecting companies’ ability to provide service contracts along with products. “Often a service contract is a necessity for technical product, and that contract requires presence on site within a matter of hours,” he said. It is also not clear what the visa requirements are for members of multinational teams brought to the UK for installation or servicing work. “The UK immigration laws are not clear on how that works and who needs a visa, and we’re having some difficulty getting answers from the Home Office on that,” Brambley said.
There is also a lack of awareness about rules regarding carrying professional equipment, for example when travelling in a van to the EU carrying analytical equipment or tools. For such equipment an ATA carnet is needed – this is a declaration to customs with a list of serial numbers and values, to allow such equipment to be taken abroad and to make sure it can be brought back into the UK again without paying duty. Government guidance says this would be needed even for a laptop, at a cost of £325. “Nobody will want to be charged £325 for the right to bring a laptop into another country,” said Brambley. “Covid-19 restrictions for the most part have masked this because people aren’t travelling so much,” he said.