Have you heard that product safety legislation is changing significantly, both in the EU and GB?

Are you confused by recent announcements on the Product Regulation & Metrology Bill (PRMB), the EU General Product Safety Regulations 2024 (EUGPSR) and their UK equivalent, the UK Supply of Machinery (Safety) Regulations 2008 and the upcoming EU Machinery Regulations 2023?

Well, you are not alone. But don’t worry, Make UK are here to help.

Many UK manufacturers supply into Great Britain (GB), Northern Ireland (NI) and the European Union (EU). Unfortunately, the rules for supplying into each area are different.

To start, let’s imagine you’re a GB based manufacturer placing goods into the GB market.

If this is you, for now, you’re governed by the General Product Safety Regulations, 2005 (GPSR05) for consumer goods and regulations like the Supply of Machinery (Safety) Regulations, 2008 (SMSR08) for capital goods, like machinery.

GPSR05 requires producers to:

  • Ensure the product is safe during normal and any other reasonably foreseeable use.
  • Provide customers with information on inherent risks.
  • Allow traceability by providing key information like the name and address of the producer, either on the product itself or its packaging.
  • Carry out market surveillance in order to remain informed about risks related to the product.
  • Recall any products that pose a health and safety risk and inform the enforcing authority of any action taken.

If you produce capital goods, then you need to comply with the much more stringent regulations like the Supply of Machinery (Safety) Regulations, 2008.

SMSR08 requires manufacturers to:

  • Complete a conformity assessment which demonstrates that your product meets the Essential Health & Safety Requirements (EHSRs) set out in the regulations.
    • The EHSRs cover things like mechanical hazards, the handling of the machinery and potential ergonomic risks presented by the machinery. 
  • Take the machinery through one or other conformity procedures depending on the type of machinery and then mark it with either a UKCA or CE mark. It’s important to note: On 1 August 2023 and 24 January 2024, the UK Government extended the recognition of certain goods that meet EU requirements (including the use of the CE mark), indefinitely, beyond 2024 for many products. The Product Safety and Metrology etc. (Amendment) Regulations 2024 give effect to this and came into force on 1 October 2024. We recommend, always keep up-to-date on the future legislative changes that may amend this guidance. 
    • Machinery that doesn’t appear in Annex IV of the regulations like a CNC Lathe can be “self-certified” by the manufacturer.
    • Machinery that does appear in Annex IV like a circular saw or a vehicle servicing lift but is made wholly in-line with a British Standard (BS) can also be self-certified.
    • Annex IV Machinery that isn’t made in-line with a BS needs to be certified by an external UK Approved Body (Make UK can make supplier recommendations). 

As mentioned before, this all changes if you are a GB manufacturer supplying into the EU or NI.

In the case of consumer goods, you now need to comply with the new EUGPSR24.

The key differences between the GPSR05 & the EUGPSR24 are:

  • EUGPSR24 is no longer a directive as it became law in the EU through an EU regulation that took effect in December 2024. This means that EU member states must implement the legislation “wholesale” rather than interpret is as is the requirement with a directive.
  • There is now a new requirement to assess the impact of the product on the user’s health. This now also includes mental health.
  • Where goods are provided via an online market platform, then that platform must ensure compliance of all sellers.
  • A manufacturer from outside of the EU must appoint an EU-based representative who is then legally liable for the product.
  • The representative must now report all accidents or incidents related to the good to the member state.
  • These representatives must be clearly identified on the product or the packaging.
  • For online sales, this must be done digitally.
  • Product information must be made available in the official languages of the markets in which the product is sold within.

If you’re supplying capital goods into the EU, you need to comply with regulations like the EU Machinery Directive, 2006. 

Here, there is some good news at least. The main requirements of the EU Machinery Directive, 2006 are exactly the same as the Supply of Machinery (Safety) Regulations, 2008, with the exception of needing an EU-based representative of course. 

However, things are about to change.

What’s Next?

Later this year, if enacted, the new Product Regulation & Metrology Bill (PRMB) will become law in the UK. It would change the UK's approach to product safety with far-reaching consequences for both businesses placing products on the UK market and consumers. It is in recognition that more sales are now conducted online, there are many more direct-to-consumer sales via online marketplace platforms and consumer products are also increasingly incorporating connected or artificial intelligence-type features.

The purpose of this "enabling act” is to allow UK domestic law to be updated to reflect new or revised EU product requirements and environmental impacts, widens the scope of products impacted, would consider the risks from new technologies (such as artificial intelligence) and gives powers to the UK Government to develop new product laws.

For UK manufacturers this means that requirements like digital identification are likely to become law later in 2025.

In addition, the EU Machinery Directive is also about to be updated and reissued as the EU Machinery Regulations, 2023. 

In comparison with the 2006 Directive, the Regulation clarifies some complex issues such as 'incomplete machinery' and 'substantial modifications'. The Machinery Regulation also intends to better cover new technologies such as autonomous mobile machinery (robots) and artificial intelligence (AI), where specific modules of AI using learning techniques ensure safety functions.

Specifically, when the EU Machinery Regulations becomes a legal requirement from January 2027 they will place “Safety components with fully or partially self-evolving behaviour using machine learning approaches ensuring safety functions” into the EU Annex 1A (similar to the UK’s Annex IV).

This means that UK manufacturers of robotics, 3D printers and many other AI applications supplying into the EU and NI will no longer be able to self-certify and will instead need to use an EU-based representative.

Given that the PRMB will be in place at this point, it is possible that the UK will consider that SMSR08 needs to be updated to match EU Machinery Regulations. This would follow consultation and UK Government sign-off. This would probably provide for CE marked product to be placed on the GB market. Though until mutual recognition or other legal reciprocity mechanisms allows for GB conformity assessment processes to be accepted in the EU, the requirement to use EU based bodies to place goods on the EU market, will remain.

How Make UK can help

At Make UK, our team specialises in helping organisations navigate complex workplace changes like this. By working closely with government, we stay at the cutting edge of legislation to ensure you get the best advice. 

As further information regarding this becomes available, Make UK will endeavour to keep members and customers informed and up to date.

As a Make UK Environment, Health and Safety subscriber you have access to dedicated telephone and email support so please get in touch with any questions. To learn more about the benefits of subscription, please visit this page: Health, Safety & Environmental Management Packages | Make UK.