Product safety and metrology regulatory changes: UKCA and CE regimes
Updated 31 March 2026
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Product Safety and Metrology etc. (Amendment) Regulations 2024
In May 2024, the UK Parliament passed The Product Safety and Metrology etc. (Amendment) Regulations 2024, which came into force on 1 October 2024.
The regulations cover 21 product areas, including the 18 product regulations owned by the Department for Business and Trade (DBT), and following feedback from industry, the relevant regulations under the remit of:
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Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ)
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Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Health and Safety Executive (HSE)
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Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)
The regulations enable the government to do the following for the Great Britain market:
- provide businesses with flexibility to use either UK Conformity Assessed (UKCA) or Conformité Européene (CE) marking, for example through UK designated or EU harmonised standards, where EU standards are recognised
- allow businesses to apply the UKCA marking where either UKCA or recognised EU essential requirements are met via Fast-Track UKCA
Product Regulation and Metrology Act 2025
The product safety review public consultation ran from August to October 2023 and set out the then UK government’s ambitions to update and reform the UK product safety regime, following the UK’s departure from the EU.
Evidence collected through this review was fundamental in the case for bringing forward the powers in the Product Regulation and Metrology Act.
Read the government response to the product safety review and next steps.
On 21 July 2025, The Product Regulation and Metrology Act 2025 came into force. The act enables the UK to:
- manage regulatory changes and emerging threats and hazards
- update relevant laws as necessary
- maintain high product requirements
- adapt to new technological advances, such as artificial intelligence (AI)
- ensure the legal responsibilities of online marketplaces are clear and enforceable
- improve compliance and enforcement
- update the legal metrology framework