On the 4 September, the Government laid a new Bill before Parliament, rather drily called the Product Regulation and Metrology Bill. To many, this innocuous sounding piece of legislation may be seen as just another cog in the machinery of government, yet it is much more than that. It has flown a little under the radar compared with other ‘popular’ Bills announced in Labour’s maiden Kings Speech like on creating GB Energy, Renters Rights, Tobacco and Vapes and on Football Governance, but in industry and in environmental circles as well as for those interested in maintaining alignment with high [environmental] standards set by the EU, the ‘products’ bill is very significant. Ardent Brexiteers have ‘noticed’ its significance too.

Michael Nicholson explores what this Bill could mean for the UK’s environmental ambitions.

Why should we care about product standards?

We use a whole host of products in everyday life. Some manufactured and produced in the UK, many imported into our country. Our manufacturers also produce things and sell them abroad too. Energy efficiency standards, for example, set how much energy your TV or computer monitor consumes; noise standards, for example – how noisy your lawnmower or hedge strimmer is for your garden; or how much emissions from your car tailpipe can be produced. All of these not only affect our health but also impact upon the environment. As IEEP UK recommended previously, more efficient products leads to a better environment for us all.

The context…

Before Brexit, many safety and environmental standards that a large amount of consumer and industrial products that we used in the UK conformed to EU law – everything from electronics to heating and lighting to vehicles. At the point of Brexit, these laws became ‘retained’ in the UK, in other words, copied across to the UK statute book. However further changes after Brexit to standards made by the EU no longer had or have effect. Outside of the EU, the UK is now able to diverge from these standards.

It is important to remember that these standards protect worker and consumer safety (e.g., they might require guard rails on industrial welding equipment) and help to protect the environment, for example, by setting standards, including those listed above.

The EU since Brexit has continued to enhance product standard levels (for example, note the recent passing of a revised ‘Eco-Design’ Regulation). However, there are many UK businesses, manufacturers, retailers and sellers who export products to customers in the EU. In order to continue doing so, they must keep a track of these changing standards (not a simple job to do!) but then also conform to them. They are caught in a bind.

It is also worth remembering that some UK politicians, and some businesses, particularly those only selling to customers in the UK, may not want to comply with [often higher and stricter] standards set by the EU. They may see the requirement to comply with additional safety precautions as simply more cost. For others, they may simply not want to accept ‘rules’ set by the EU.

However, in the UK, unless the Government decides to actively follow the EU’s example by setting higher product standards, it will leave British exporters to the EU (a very sizable market on our doorstep), with a choice:

• Decide to restrict the sale of their products to the smaller UK market (effectively closing down a potential market for their products and accept lower profits),
• Operate two production lines, one suitable for the UK market (which is potentially suitable for product with lower safety and environmental standards) and one suitable for products than can be exported to the EU market (which is potentially suitable for products with higher safety and environmental standards),
• Or proactively follow EU rules and design all of their products to the (higher) EU standard.

The CE mark (Conformité Européenne) is mandatory for certain goods sold in the EU and European Economic Area (but also in Northern Ireland as NI is still bound by EU law with regard to traded products). It indicates that the manufacturer affirms the product’s compliance with the relevant EU legislation. The ‘UKCA’ mark briefly brought in after Brexit will continue to be used but the Government has accepted the need to continue recognising the CE mark..

Why is this new UK legislation important?

In the Bill there is a key passage. Article 1(2) states:

“The Secretary of State may also by regulations make provision, in relation to the marketing or use of products in the United Kingdom, which corresponds, or is similar, to a provision of relevant EU law for the purpose of reducing or mitigating the environmental impact of products”

This means that it gives the Government the power [to require businesses in the UK] to align with (potentially higher / stricter) standards set by the EU for certain product categories. This would help and support those businesses that are exporting to the EU (by negating the need to run two production lines for example) but also ensure that businesses do not ‘dump’ lower standard products on the UK market.  

Countries enter into agreements on environmental policies for two main reasons: 1) to deal with trans-national issues e.g., air or water pollution that crosses borders, and 2) to reduce impediments to trade or distortions to economic competition (and to protect the level playing field).

The second of these is important. Even though the UK is outside of the EU, the Trade and Cooperation Agreement – the free trade agreement signed between the two sides – requires both sides to not undercut the level playing field. Actively and openly allowing lower standard products in such a way could be considered as a breach of the terms of the TCA.    

As the Bill’s Impact Assessment states, not passing this into law would lead to “Business costs, complexity, uncertainty and confusion,” because the UK lacks powers to recognise new and updated EU regulations in Great Britain. In addition, by not passing this into law, there would be internal UK market divergence where Northern Ireland, who are bound by their requirement to implement ever-improving EU standards, would mean that producers, manufacturers and sellers in GB might not be able to sell to Northern Ireland because they do not conform to NI / EU standards.  

What products could be affected?

It is unclear what types of standards that government regulations are looking to potentially target with this legislation or what types of products this could apply to. A Schedule to the Bill is specific about what products are excluded though such as food, feed stuffs, plants and military equipment.

This means the types of products included could range from consumer products (e.g. fridges, freezers, toasters), children’s toys, heating and lighting equipment (e.g., boilers, heat pumps, lightbulbs), construction and heavy machinery (e.g., welding, power tools), digital electronics (e.g., data storage, servers, computers) and vehicles (e.g., cars, e-bikes, e-scooters etc) and chemicals.

We will have to wait and see how the Bill evolves through its passage (although with Labour’s majority – it is likely to pass in some form). After this it will be clearer what standards and types of products the Government has in mind to know how far this will impact upon the environment but staying more closely aligned with higher and stricter product standards will no doubt benefit our environment..

Photo by Rocco Dipoppa on Unsplash.