From the end of 2024, the British Government was planning to impose a requirement for goods to carry a new UK-only UK Conformity Assessed (UKCA) mark. Manufacturers who used to need only a conformité européenne (CE) mark for all European countries would have had to meet separate safety standards for the UKCA mark just for the UK and a CE mark for the rest of Europe. After opposition from industry, the Government has backed down and decided to allow the European Union’s CE mark for the UK market indefinitely in a nod to the need for common standards. Will the Government accept the same logic for the use of the common global measurement system known as SI, the modern metric system?
The CE mark shows that that a product meets European safety standards. The introduction of a separate UKCA mark for the UK would have increased bureaucracy for manufacturers because it would have meant that they would have had to meet two sets of standards instead of one.
The need for common standards applies to weights and measures as well as common safety standards. Has the Government thought about what would happen if other European countries followed the UK and introduced their own separate safety standards and product markings? What would happen if they retained or reintroduced their own national measurement systems?
Like the retention of the British imperial system, the creation of a UK-only product marking for goods is part of the mentality of British exceptionalism. The proposals for the UKCA product marking and reintroduction of imperial units seem to offer us no benefits, only costs.
For over a year, the Government has been determined to reintroduce imperial units in the marketplace despite strong opposition from stakeholders. The metric system is one of humanity’s greatest achievements. We must not turn our back on it.
Metric Views 
Sadly, I am all too familiar with the sentiment of national exceptionalism over here in the States. (Think shouts of “USA! USA! USA!”. Makes me cringe.) Countries that fall into this trap do so much harm to themselves and their people.
I wish Carter had been re-elected President back in 1980 since the USA would have converted to metric and forced the UK to do the same because of our economic clout. Now both countries (worse here in America, of course) have a massive metric muddle to content with.
I do hope Labour sweeps into power and has the good sense to sort out the muddle once and for all. Finger crossed, y’all! 🙂
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The CE mark covers more than just safety requirements. According to the UK Government website https://www.gov.uk/guidance/ce-marking, it also covers health and environmental requirements as well as compliance with EU legislation. As far as the UKMA is concerned much of EU metrology-related legislation is merely a rubber-stamp of the International Organisation for Legal Metrology (OIML) recommendations which the UK would be foolish not to follow.
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