UKAS as the National Accreditation Body

From 1^st January 2021 the regulatory landscape regarding accreditation within the UK changed:

• The legislative framework for accreditation in Great Britain is set out in the Regulation on Accreditation and Market Surveillance No 765/2008 (“RAMS”) which became incorporated into GB law by the EU (Withdrawal) Act 2018 and deficiencies were corrected by the Product Safety and Metrology Amendment etc. (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 UK Statutory Instruments 2019 No. 696 (as amended). This is hereon referred to as “GB RAMS”.
• In Northern Ireland, Regulation (EC) No. 765/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council setting out the requirements for accreditation and market surveillance (as it applies in EU law, through the Northern Ireland Protocol) will continue to apply. It is hereon referred to as “RAMS NI”.
• Both regulations require Government to appoint a single not for profit UK National Accreditation Body (NAB) to operate accreditation as a public authority activity.

See government guidance: Regulation 765/2008 on Accreditation and Market Surveillance – What’s changed?

UKAS is appointed as the UK’s national accreditation body under the UK Accreditation Regulations 2009 for the purposes of Article 4 (1) of RAMS (Regulation 765/2008, as amended and has effect in Great Britain), setting out the requirements for accreditation.

The Regulation on Accreditation and Market Surveillance No 765/2008 (“RAMS”) became incorporated into GB law by the EU (Withdrawal) Act 2018 and deficiencies were corrected by the Product Safety and Metrology etc. (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 No. 696 (as amended). This is the legislative framework for accreditation in GB (referred to as “GB RAMS”).

In Northern Ireland, Regulation (EC) No. 765/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council setting out the requirements for accreditation and market surveillance (as it applies in EU law, through the Northern Ireland Protocol) will continue to apply and be basis for accreditation policy.

The initial Memorandum of understanding (MoU) explaining how the UK Government and UKAS would work together to maintain and promote a strong national accreditation service in the UK was first signed in 1995. Following the UK’s exit from the EU and confirmation of UKAS’s ongoing status as the UK’s National Accreditation Body, the MoU was updated on 14th September 2023 and signed by the Secretary of State for Business and Trade (DBT), on behalf of government as a whole, and the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS).

Paragraph 9.2 of the MoU confirms “where testing, inspection, certification or other conformity assessment activity that is covered by accreditation is required to demonstrate compliance with national legislation or guidance, or any similar rules or recommendations of any international institutions, government will specify the use of laboratories, inspection, certification or other conformity assessment bodies accredited by UKAS.  In line with UKAS’s appointment as the sole national accreditation body for the UK pursuant to the Accreditation Regulations 2009, the Secretary of State will only recognise accreditation of UK CABs by UKAS in the voluntary and mandatory sectors”.

The Government published its updated Conformity Assessment and Accreditation Policy in the UK on 10th January 2023, setting out its policy principles and how it will be apply those principles.

The principles on accreditation are as follows:

• Accreditation is applicable to both the regulated and non-regulated sectors.
• Accreditation being at the topmost level of control should provide an authoritative statement of the technical competence of CABs.
• The legislative framework for accreditation in Great Britain is GB RAMS.
• In Northern Ireland the legislative framework is RAMS NI.
• The National Accreditation Body (NAB) shall operate in accordance with GB RAMS and RAMS NI as relevant.
• Accreditation is considered to be a public authority activity and should therefore operate in the public interest. It should be self-supporting but run as a not for profit activity.
• Accreditation should be operated with integrity; independent of the organisations it accredits and impartial, and free from commercial pressure. The NAB shall operate to recognised standards or other transparent criteria and be compliant with applicable technical requirements, demonstrated, where appropriate, through peer evaluation.

In applying these principles, the Department for Business and Trade:

• appoints on behalf of government as a whole, a single NAB for the UK. By means of The Accreditation Regulations 2009 (SI 2009 No. 3155), the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) is appointed as the NAB for the UK;
• works with UKAS to ensure that it operates in the public interest and meets the obligations imposed by the Regulation on accreditation and market surveillance (765/2008) as it has effect in Great Britain and to Regulation (EC) 765/2008 as it applies to Northern Ireland, as well as those accepted under the Memorandum of Understanding UKAS has with government;
• requires that where a UK CAB requests accreditation, it shall do so from UKAS as the sole NAB for the UK;
• recommends UK businesses, government and local authorities requiring third party conformity assessment services to source such services, where they exist, from conformity assessment bodies accredited by the UK NAB; and
• recognises the equivalence of the services delivered by those accreditation bodies that are members of the European or international multilateral agreements (i.e. those operated by EA, ILAC and IAF).

See government guidance: Conformity assessment and accreditation

UKAS was a founder member of EA, the association of European national accreditation bodies, at the turn of the 21^st Century, and has been an active and influential member and supporter during the following two decades.

With the withdrawal of the UK from the European Union, UKAS no longer met the EA membership criteria in effect at that time as we were not a NAB in an EU or EFTA Member State or candidate country. EA expressed the importance of having UKAS as a member, even after the withdrawal of the UK from the EU. Accordingly, EA revised its Articles of Association, initially to introduce the option of a transition period, which allowed UKAS to maintain its membership for a further 2 years from when the UK left the EU (i.e. until 31 January 2022). During this transition period, UKAS worked with EA to revise the EA membership criteria so that UKAS was able to remain an EA member. This revision was completed and came into effect at the end of 2021, with the new membership criteria included within the revised EA Articles of Association. This revision secured the long-term future of UKAS as a member of the European co-operation for Accreditation.

In support of this, the EA issued a clarifying statement on ‘continuing recognition of UKAS under the EA MLA’ which can be read here. This statement applies to all UKAS accredited work covered under the scope of the EA MLA, no matter where the accredited body is located or operating.

Continued membership of EA enables UKAS to remain a participant in the EA peer evaluation system and hence maintain its signatory status to the EA MLA.

UKAS’ membership of both the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) and International Accreditation Forum (IAF), including full signatory status of their mutual recognition agreements) remained unaffected by the UK’s exit from the EU.

From 1^st January 2021 the work of UK-based Notified Bodies was no longer recognised within the EU and therefore, unless a UK-based entity had already relocated its Notified Body operations to one of the 27 EU Member States and received accreditation from the local accreditation body then it was no longer able to undertake notified body work for the purposes of placing goods on the EU single market.

With respect to the UK from 2021 onwards, the UK government has implemented its own Conformity Assessed (UKCA) Marking scheme for products to be placed on the GB (England, Scotland & Wales) market – The arrangements for Northern Ireland are different and are explained below.  UK-based Notified Bodies automatically had their appointment for existing scopes changed from Notified Body for the purposes of CE marking to UK Approved Bodies for the purposes of UKCA marking. In support of this UKAS updated all Notified Body Schedules of Accreditation to reflect this transition, and to reference the UK legislation that underpin the UKCA Mark: This was completed by Christmas 2020.

Under the Northern Ireland protocol NI continues to abide by EU Directives relating to placing certain products on the NI market. As a consequence, NI continues to recognise the CE Mark but does not recognise the UKCA Mark. For producers and importers wishing to place goods on the NI market they have two options for attaining the CE Mark, either through (a) conformity assessment activities undertaken by a Notified Body from one of the EU Member States, or (b) conformity assessment activities undertaken by a UK-based Notified Body. If the second option is followed, then the product must be marked with a UKNI Mark in addition to the CE Mark denoting that the conformity assessment activities were undertaken within the UK. Products bearing the combined CE UKNI Marks shall not be accepted on the EU market.

The Government has set up a website that lists all UK Approved Bodies and UK Notified Bodies (for NI), the  UK Market Conformity Assessment Bodies (UKMCAB) database, which is maintained by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS).

For more information on this topic please refer to the information provided in the following documents and websites:

Accreditation requirements 

• UKAS Publications GEN 5 – Accreditation for the Purposes of Appointment as an Approved Body under the UKCA System
• EA-2/17M – EA Document on Accreditation for Notification Purposes

Government Guidance on accreditation:

• Using the UKCA marking
• Using the UKNI marking
• CE Marking
• Placing manufactured goods on the market in Great Britain
• Placing manufactured goods on the market in Northern Ireland
• Placing manufactured goods on the EU market
• Product safety and metrology from 1 January 2021: Great Britain

UKAS accredits conformity assessment bodies (CABs) to enable them to be appointed as Approved Bodies in accordance with the relevant UK legislation. Visit Becoming an Approved Body for UKCA marking – UKAS to learn more;

• Are you an existing UK Approved Body wishing to extend your scope?
• Are you a non-UK Notified Body interested in approving products for the Great Britain?
• Are you looking to become an Approved Body for the first time?
• Are you looking for advice in placing your product on the GB or NI Market?
• Are you looking for a UK Approved Body to perform conformity assessment activities on your product?

In December 2020 the EU and the UK reached an agreement in principle on the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA). This Agreement includes a Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Chapter which addresses regulatory barriers to trade between the UK and EU, while allowing both Parties the freedom to regulate goods in the way most appropriate for their own market. This Chapter builds on the WTO TBT agreement and includes provisions on technical regulation, conformity assessment, standardisation, accreditation, market surveillance and marking and labelling.

Part 3 of the TCA covers law enforcement and judicial cooperation in criminal matters. This includes  an article on accreditation of forensic service providers stating that “the States shall ensure that their forensic service providers carrying out laboratory activities are accredited by a domestic accreditation body as complying with EN ISO/IEC 17025”. A domestic accreditation body is defined within the TCA as the sole national accreditation body: Within the UK this is UKAS as appointed via The Accreditation Regulations 2009 (S.I. 2009/3155).

For further details see here