The August update is limited, while the guide’s operating framework is broader
The Department for Business and Trade updated its guide on placing UKCA- or CE-marked products on the market in Great Britain on August 21, 2026. The change log identifies a narrow revision to the declaration-of-conformity template: references to “EEE” were changed to “product.”
The wider guide is still useful because it consolidates how businesses should operate within the framework established by The Product Safety and Metrology etc. (Amendment) Regulations 2024. That framework continues recognition of current EU requirements for a range of product regulations and preserves flexibility between CE and UKCA routes.
For many non-medical products, CE marking remains a usable route for access to the Great Britain market.
The guide is about scope as much as marking choice
The first important point is scope.
The Great Britain guide applies to product sectors within the UKCA / CE regime and does not govern every regulated product category. The government guidance identifies medical devices among the sectors subject to specific rules, and the broader continued-recognition arrangements for these product regulations should not be applied to devices without checking the UK medical-device framework.
For companies with mixed portfolios, the compliance question is therefore not only whether CE can continue to be used, but whether the relevant product actually sits inside this Great Britain regime rather than in a sector-specific framework.
Continued CE recognition is only one part of the picture
The framework gives businesses ongoing flexibility to use either CE or UKCA in Great Britain for a wide range of regulations covered by the continued-recognition policy.
The guide also places the CE route alongside a UKCA route and a Fast-Track UKCA route.
Fast-Track UKCA allows manufacturers, in the relevant circumstances, to use compliance with EU essential requirements and associated EU conformity-assessment processes to support use of the UKCA marking in Great Britain. This matters for businesses that want a UKCA-marked product while still leveraging EU-facing technical and conformity-assessment work.
Labelling details may be more operationally important than the headline policy
The practical compliance burden may lie less in the high-level marking policy than in execution.
The guidance states that, in most sectors, the UKCA marking may be affixed to a label attached to the product or to accompanying documentation until 11 p.m. on December 31, 2027. It also explains circumstances in which importer details may appear on packaging or accompanying documentation instead of directly on the product.
The wider Great Britain guidance also describes the voluntary option of digital labelling as part of the policy framework. For companies handling packaging revisions, importer data, and multi-market stock-keeping units, these details can be just as significant as the continued acceptance of CE marking itself.
The operational decision goes beyond “the UK still accepts CE”
The operational decision is usually more specific: whether to keep using CE for Great Britain, whether to move to UKCA, or whether to use Fast-Track UKCA while continuing to reuse EU-side work. The answer may differ by product line, conformity-assessment route, and labelling setup.
Product regulations, economic-operator duties, marking rules, and documentation requirements still apply. Continued CE recognition does not eliminate the need to map the applicable sector rules and maintain the right conformity records.
What companies can check now
- Confirm whether the product is inside the Great Britain continued-recognition regime rather than in a sector-specific framework such as medical devices.
- Decide whether CE, UKCA, or Fast-Track UKCA is the more efficient route for the relevant Great Britain product line.
- Review how UK and EU declarations of conformity, certificates, and technical documentation are organised across the portfolio.
- Check whether current product, packaging, and accompanying-document labelling practices align with the available flexibility for marking and importer information.
- Make sure commercial, regulatory, and supply-chain teams share the same understanding of when a product is considered placed on the Great Britain market, including for online sales.
The main value of the guide is practical clarity. It gives businesses a usable operating picture for placing products on the market in Great Britain, particularly where CE, UKCA, and labelling choices intersect.
Sources
- Primary official sourcePlacing UKCA or CE marked products on the market in Great Britain (opens in a new tab)Department for Business and Trade
- Supporting sourcePlacing products on the market under the UKCA and CE regimes (opens in a new tab)Department for Business and Trade
- Supporting sourcePlacing manufactured products on the market in Great Britain (opens in a new tab)Department for Business and Trade
- Supporting sourceUsing harmonised standards to place CE marked products on the market in Great Britain: UKCA and CE regimes (opens in a new tab)Department for Business and Trade
- Supporting sourceThe Product Safety and Metrology etc. (Amendment) Regulations 2024 (opens in a new tab)The National Archives