As we all know, Brexit has been the main topic of conversation over the past 4 years (with a little break due to COVID), and on the 31st December 2020 at 11pm the United Kingdom left the European Union.
There is still a lot of uncertainty, especially for businesses trying to quickly and efficiently implement the new changes, however, we wanted to reassure our customers that Benincà UK have been working hard behind the scenes to minimise the impacts.
Increased Stock Volumes
Back in the summer of 2020, we adjusted our forecasting and significantly increased our order volumes, so we now hold a much larger volume of stock. All made possible by our recent warehouse expansion. We are therefore confident we have sufficient stock, even across our most popular lines.
Regarding future imports from Italy, we already meet a number of the import requirements, but to help counteract any potential issues, we have recently assigned a customs agent. Our newly appointed customs agent will work alongside us to ensure all imports moving forward from Italy will be as smooth and quick as possible.
Gate Safety Legislation
We have been asked lots of questions in relation to gate safety laws and changes within the legislation for compliant gate systems post Brexit. Companies that place new systems on the market have legal responsibilities under a range of product safety criminal legislation. The gate industry is very aware of safety legislation that has its origins in European CE marking legislation. Post-Brexit (1st January 2021), the emphasis in Great Britain will not be on the European Machinery Directive but on the Supply of Machinery (Safety) Regulations 2008 (SMSR), a UK regulation. The SMSR was enacted to implement the EU directives and regulations so the effect and meaning of the two different regulations are the same, just slightly different wording.
We are anticipating further revisions to guides to gate safety following the pending publication of a new version of EN 12453. As soon as we learn more on this, we will be sure to pass on the information.
There are various exclusions or allowances within the legislation changes, for example, goods installed in Northern Ireland or brought into Great Britain from Northern Ireland due to the Northern Ireland protocol around the Brexit trade and cooperation agreements, NI remain tied with CE marking and EU regulations.
For a more detailed guide to recent legislation changes, please view the DHF TS011 & 012:2019 Supplement dated December 2020
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UKCA Certification
We would also like to draw your attention to the new UKCA marking requirements. Many of you will be familiar with the CE mark, this is no longer valid and has been replaced by the new UKCA mark. For installers, this means every new gate installed must now have a UKCA mark applied upon completion. This became law as of the 1st January 2021 and if you would like more detail around this, please read our recent blog. (UKCA FAQ’s)
As we, as a company sell components of machinery, Benincà have a grace period to transition products fully across from the current CE mark to the new UKCA mark by January 2022. We are working with HQ currently to make changes to our products and literature and anticipate completing this well before the deadline, so there will be no impact to our customers.
If you do have any questions regarding the above, please do contact us via telephone on 01488 658 276 or email us at info@beninca.co.uk
