Amid the difficulties of the global coronavirus pandemic, 2020 is also the year of Brexit and as the UK deals with shifting regulations from the EU agreements, companies importing and exporting electronic components from and to the UK may have new regulations to deal with.

Given the wide diversity of electronic components and the materials used to manufacture them, knowing about any new or upcoming UK regulations is vital to all manufacturers and distributors of electronic products.

While most EU regulations, the UK had adopted will stay in place for the rest of this year at least, it would be smart to avoid issues by checking here and any other government department particular components fall under.

“The UK is a net importer of machinery. Imports will include high value components for UK products where there is no domestic competence and will also reflect multinational ownership of many companies in the sector, which will include imports from other global manufacturing centres,” the abovementioned UK Parliament report notes.

“£30.1 billion of total UK imports (7 per cent) were associated with the parts and machinery sector, with £18.5 billion by value (62 per cent) imported from the EU.9 The top three trading partners in this sector are: Germany (22 per cent of imports); the United States(12 per cent); and China (9 per cent)”.

Two major regulations that the UK has in place, similar to those in the EU, are Restrictions on Hazardous Substances Directive (RoHS) - legislation requires heavy metals (e.g. lead, mercury, cadmium), and other materials such as flame retardants, to be substituted for safer alternatives restrict the use of hazardous materials in electronic components; and the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE) that covers appropriate disposal of items to avoid significant environmental and health impacts. The production of electronics and electrical machinery relies on the use of scarce resources (e.g. rare earths) that need to be recycled or effectively disposed of and can be the responsibility of the manufacturers and retailers of electronic goods.

A good example of the UK maintaining existing EU trade agreements and regulations is CETA (Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement) - the Canada Europe Trade Agreement. The US is working on TTIP - Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership which will include regulations for products traded between the US and the UK.

In the short term, the UK is using the CE mark regulated by the EU. The Conformitè Europëenne (CE) Mark is defined as the European Union's (EU) mandatory conformity marking for regulating the goods sold within the European Economic Area (EEA) since 1985. The CE marking represents a manufacturer's declaration that products comply with the EU's New Approach Directives.

One area where manufacturers and distributors may need to address is the use of Authorized Representatives. Prior to Brexit, a UK AR met the requirements for the EU as well. With the completion of the departure on December 31, 2020 (or longer if extended), there will be a need for reps covering both the UK and the EU - many companies are qualified as both, but it should be checked.