Trade Continuity Agreement Protocol between Canada and the UK
Action required
None
Affected customers
All Certification Body Accreditation Program (CBAP) conformity assessment bodies (CABs) requesting to become approved bodies in the United Kingdom.
Background
On behalf of their respective governments, the Standards Council of Canada (SCC) and the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) are implementing the Protocol on the mutual acceptance of the results of conformity assessment included in the Canada-UK Trade Continuity Agreement (TCA).
The Protocol aims to allow the mutual recognition and acceptance of accreditation, enabling industry to have their products certified to the other party’s requirements. This means that Canada recognizes that the UK’s accredited conformity assessment bodies (CABs) possess the competence required to certify products to Canadian requirements (and vice versa).
This allows CABs to conduct conformity assessment activities for both economies, resulting in faster certification, improved product quality and safety, time and money savings for Canadian and UK industries, and lower costs for consumers.
The Protocol is an important mechanism for giving Canadian and UK small-to-medium sized businesses a competitive export advantage in the global market.
Canada and the UK are working together to design and implement a framework for recognizing and accepting each other’s CABs. This work includes learning our respective requirements and establishing a process for the recognition of Canadian CABs as Approved Bodies in the UK, and for recognition of UK CABs as accredited bodies in Canada.
The first product category to be activated under this Protocol will be ATEX/HAZLOC (e.g., equipment and machines for use in potentially explosive atmospheres). Canadian CABs can expect to be able to submit applications for scope extensions to include the ATEX product category in their scopes of accreditation in Q1 of 2024 (Calendar Year). Canada and the UK are currently working together to plan for the implementation of other product categories.
New requirements
None
Deadline
None
Questions?
For further information on the framework, or interest in specific product group categories to be mobilized for your business needs, please refer to the contact information below.
Standards Council of Canada
Dean Taleb, Senior Policy Analyst
dean.taleb@scc-ccn.ca
United Kingdom Accreditation Services
Kevin Belson
Technical Manager – International
kevin.belson@ukas.com