The product regulatory framework in the UK covers most consumer products, for example toys and cosmetics, and a significant number of industrial products too, such as lifts and pressure equipment. The overwhelming majority of this legislation is assimilated law, transposed into UK law while the UK was part of the EU and then assimilated following EU exit. Much of the legislation is secondary legislation, made, at least in part, using powers in the European Communities Act 1972, powers which were also used to regularly update that secondary legislation.
	Whilst the UK was a member of the EU, the legislation also provided for various systems of mutual recognition and mandated conformity markings that are used across the EU. On EU exit, powers under the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 were used to create a UK regulatory regime, using the UK Conformity Assessed (UKCA) marking. However, to ensure a continued flow of goods, provision was also made to allow certain goods that meet current EU requirements on the market across the UK. The Act will provide the Secretary of State with the ability to update relevant legislation to allow the UK to maintain high product standards.
	Domestic legislation originally enacted to deal with product safety and metrology – the Consumer Protection Act 1987 and the Weights and Measures Act 1985 – was drafted before the shift in consumer buying behaviour and did not contemplate the technological advances that have taken place since then, for example the widespread use of new actors in the supply chain, such as online marketplaces.
	Finally, the enforcement of product and metrology regulation is contained in a number of pieces of legislation, including the Consumer Protection Act 1987 and the Weights and Measures Act 1985, as well as some secondary legislation. The provisions of these pieces of legislation are not always consistent. Furthermore, they allow for limited civil enforcement measures. This Act will provide the ability to rationalise enforcement provisions so that they are consistent across the product safety and metrology landscape and provide for more civil sanctions, as well as criminal penalties where appropriate.
	A summary of the legal changes in each area of the Act can be found in the commentary section.
Legal background