Brexit: Plans for costly new tests on goods before sale shelved in another U-turn

Businesses had protested that the ‘UKCA’ quality mark represented pointless and costly red tape

Plans to force UK firms to put their goods through expensive new tests before they can go on sale have been shelved, in another Brexit U-turn.

The new “UKCA” quality mark was due to replace the EU’s “CE” badge from 1 January – as a symbol of Britain having the left the bloc – but ministers now accept it would be a “burden for business”.

Businesses had protested that the tests would represent pointless and costly red tape where goods have already been approved by the EU as meeting the standard required.

The introduction of the UKCA system has now been delayed for two years, until 2025, but the move will raise doubts that the switch will ever be made, given the two-year recession the UK is forecast to suffer.

The government has repeatedly delayed the implementation of border checks on goods imported from the EU because of the feared additional £1bn cost to cross-Channel trade, despite fears that an absence of checks could allow the spread of diseases.

Announcing the two-year delay to the introduction of the UKCA mark, the current business secretary, Grant Shapps, said: “This move will give businesses the breathing space and flexibility they need at this crucial time.”

In February, The Independent revealed a cabinet split over the introduction of the mark, when No 10 slapped down the then business secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg’s call for it to be abandoned.

Earlier this year, the British Chambers of Commerce urged the government to recognise that the UKCA mark – an important symbol for many Brexit-backers – was neither necessary nor practical.

“We need a clear cross-government message that it is willing to listen well and act pragmatically in the interests of UK businesses,” said William Bain, the BCC’s head of trade policy.

At the time, Mr Rees-Mogg – then the minister for Brexit opportunities – was under pressure to find “red tape” that could be stripped out, and pushed for a rethink. But a Downing Street spokesperson insisted that “products with the CE mark will require a UKCA mark from 1 January next year”.

Now Mr Shapps, announcing the U-turn, has insisted that he is instead “giving thousands of businesses the freedom to focus on growth”.

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy pointed to the difficult economic conditions created by post-pandemic shifts in demand and supply, and by Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine and the associated increase in energy prices.

“The government does not want to burden business with the requirement to meet the original [31 December 2022] deadline,” the department said.

Sarah Olney, the Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson, called the announcement “yet another embarrassing U-turn”, saying: “This government preaches cutting ‘red tape’ as it saddles businesses with one burden after the next. They have absolutely no plan for boosting British business.”

Naomi Smith, chief executive of internationalist campaign group Best for Britain, said the reality of extra costs would still “be true two years from now”.

“By introducing more Brexit red tape at any time, this government clips the wings of British traders and, in the meantime, creates more uncertainty in an already perilous economic climate,” she said.