Product Safety and Metrology etc. (Amendment etc.) (UK (NI) Indication) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 — House of Lords, 2020-11-27
Topic: Mixed Topics
Martin Callanan (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, I thank all noble Lords for their valuable contributions to this debate on what is a complicated issue, as a number of noble Lords have accepted. I have set out today the importance of this SI for completing the picture on how goods from the EU and from Northern Ireland will be treated on the market in Great Britain. This will provide businesses with certainty about the arrangements in place at the end of the transition period, and easements to give them some more time to prepare. It will do so in the following ways. It will allow for the continued acceptance of CE marked goods in the scope of this SI on the market of Great Britain for 12 months after the transition period, before making the new UKCA mark mandatory from January 2022. It will introduce transitional arrangements to help minimise costs to economic operators arising from any uncertainty and give them time to prepare by clarifying the obligations they are required to comply with at the end of the transition period. It will provide unfettered access for Northern Ireland to the rest of the UK, which means no new regulatory checks or additional approvals for Northern Ireland businesses to place qualifying Northern Ireland goods on the Great Britain market. It will also, by setting out the rules in relation to the UK(NI) marking, provide clarity for businesses wishing to supply products to the Northern Ireland market that use UK-based conformity assessment bodies Along with the business easements that this SI introduces, a number of other steps have been taken to help businesses get ready for the end of the transition period. These include the rollout of an ambitious series of events, including sector-specific webinars and business adviser training sessions, giving the most up-to-date information on general readiness actions to be taken. The Office for Product Safety & Standards has also published a suite of sector guides, explaining product by product the changes made and how businesses need to comply In supporting this SI, we will ensure that the UK is able to continue to provide robust protection to consumers, ensuring that only safe and compliant products can be placed on the market. Without it, we risk disruption and confusion for businesses and enforcement authorities Turning to some of the specific questions that were raised, I can reassure my noble friend Lord Moylan that I was not involved in the design of the UKNI logo—which is probably to everybody’s benefit. However, it is intended to be easy to print and to read, and I can assure my noble friend that we discussed the design extensively with a range of manufacturers to ensure that they can apply it if they need to. It was delivered in close consultation with businesses, which rejected a number of alternative options that were put to them I can assure my noble friend Lady McIntosh, the noble Baroness, Lady Bakewell, and the noble Lord, Lord Foulkes, that we have engaged extensively with businesses on these regulations. We held informal discussions with over 4,000 businesses, including manufacturers, trade associations and industry representatives, by means of a series of structured interviews A number of noble Lords, including the noble Lords, Lord Dodds and Lord Empey, raised the issue of the Northern Ireland protocol and unfettered access. This instrument deals with unfettered access arrangements for certain manufactured goods such as toys and gas appliances. Together with other statutory instruments, as well as the UK Internal Market Bill, this instrument will guarantee unfettered access for qualifying Northern Ireland goods to the rest of the UK market. Highly regulated goods, including cosmetics, which can pose a more serious risk to consumers and the environment, will be subject to some minor transparency requirements that ensure that the GB regulator has the necessary information to protect UK consumers and the environment The noble Baroness, Lady Ritchie, and the noble Lord, Lord Dodds, also raised the issue of whether products tested in Great Britain can be sold in Northern Ireland. The UK Government are clear that, as set out in the text of the protocol, Article 7 allows for assessments, registrations, certificates, approvals and authorisations issued or carried out by the competent authorities in the United Kingdom or by bodies established in the United Kingdom to be valid in Northern Ireland. The EU’s technical notice on industrial goods states that only bodies in Northern Ireland carry out this activity. Let us be clear that we do not agree with this interpretation My noble friends Lord Lilley and Lady McIntosh, and the noble Baroness, Lady Bakewell, raised the issue of recognition. Obviously, the final free trade agreement is not yet agreed, but we have proposed a comprehensive mutual recognition agreement with the EU to recognise each other’s conformity assessment test results, which would mean that UK testing houses could test against EU rules and affix the relevant CE mark, although this is still a matter for negotiation. However, as I said, the UK Government are clear that, as set out in the text of the protocol, Article 7 allows for assessments, registrations, certificates, approvals and authorisations issued or carried out by the competent authorities of the UK or by bodies established in the UK to be valid in Northern Ireland The noble Lord, Lord Foulkes, showed a worrying interest in the subject of pyrotechnics, which should be extremely alarming for those of us on the Government Front Bench. I can tell him that we have allowed approved bodies on pyrotechnics to be based outside the UK from 1 January 2021 because, as the noble Baroness, Lady Bakewell, pointed out, currently there is no UK-approved body in the UK. It should be noted that any approved body requirements need to be approved by the Secretary of State My noble friend Lady McIntosh addressed the impact assessment. I can tell her that the withdrawal agreement Act sets out an impact assessment on the provisions governing the UK’s exit from the EU, including the terms of the Northern Ireland protocol. This SI is the detailed implementation of that policy, which has already been assessed by that impact assessment, so no new burdens need to be assessed In response to the question from the noble Baroness, Lady Ritchie, about UKNI indication and misuse penalties, the UK has high levels of product safety to protect the public from potentially dangerous products. When our market surveillance authorities find that a business has misused a product conformity marking, such as the UKNI, our starting position will be to help businesses to understand and comply with the rules, unless it is a particularly serious breach of product safety. There will usually be a period of time for the business to correct the non-compliance before we take any action The noble Baronesses, Lady Bennett and Lady McIntosh, raised the subject of business readiness. Further guidance has since been published and more than 3,000 people have attended government webinars to help them to get ready for the end of the transition period, with 86% of those polled saying that they would take action to prepare their business as a direct result of these sessions. A second phase of webinars is running throughout November and December, covering key issues that could affect businesses in multiple sectors, including personal data and regulations on manufactured goods Coming back to the impact assessment, we have assessed the changes related to setting out the time limits to end recognition of the CE mark as below the de minimis threshold of £5 million per annum; an impact assessment is therefore not required, according to the Government’s better regulation framework. I say that to the noble Baroness, Lady McIntosh, and the noble Lord, Lord Bassam The noble Lord, Lord Empey, raised the subject of unfettered access if standards diverge between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Under unfettered access qualifying, Northern Ireland goods can be placed on the Great Britain market without the need for further approvals. This means that goods that are valid on the Northern Ireland market will be valid on the market in the rest of the UK. We have been clear that unfettered access will not cover goods travelling directly from Ireland or the rest of the EU being imported into Great Britain. Northern Ireland businesses will need to label goods that are placed on the market in the rest of the UK with their own contact details, in common with UK businesses placing goods from outside the UK on the GB market I am running out of time. I have a number of other queries to respond to so I will be happy to write to noble Lords, with my apologies. With those comments, I commend these regulations to the House.