From January 1, 2023, the UKCA label is officially required for products and goods entering this market for the first time instead of the previous CE marking, representative of the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy British asserted.

In fact, the UKCA labeling regulation has been applied since 2021, however, in order to give businesses time to adjust according to the new requirements, the CE label is still approved until December 31, 2022.

The UKCA label is a UK standard conformity certification mark. UKCA has its own regulations on design and form and can be self-assessed by businesses or by a third party depending on the requirements of the specific items. The UKCA label has 4 objects of interest, including: Manufacturers, product marketers, importers and distributors. There are no costs on the part of the UK Government associated with UKCA labeling ifself-reported.

How does the new UKCA labeling affect Vietnamese businesses?

According to Mr. Ta Hoang Linh, Director of the Europe-America Market Department (Ministry of Industry and Trade of Viet Nam), guiding Vietnamese businesses on UKCA with industrial products exported to the UK is practical and needs to be implemented immediately.

In recent years, bilateral trade between Vietnam and the UK has always grown strongly. In the first half of 2022, despite global political upheavals, two-way export turnover between Vietnam and the UK still reached nearly $3.3 billion, only a slight decrease of 0.2% over the same period.

According to the British General Statistics Office, Vietnam ranked 23rd among the countries that exported the most to the UK in the past 2 years. The proportion of export turnover of industrial goods (excluding iron and steel, metal) in 2021 will reach 2.54 billion USD, accounting for 44.2% of the total export value. Products with a high proportion of turnover, including: Phones of all kinds and components 24%; machinery, equipment, tools and spare parts 10.8%; iron and steel 8.7%; computers, electronic products and components 5.6%.

Therefore, the UK is identified as a potential market for Vietnamese exporters in the coming years. It is very important for businesses to grasp and understand the UKCA labeling regulations before exporting goods to this market.