Overview
The British Standards Institute (BSI) is appointed by the UK government as the national standards body and represents UK interests at the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) and the European Standards Organizations (CEN, CENELEC and ETSI). Formed in 1901, BSI was the world’s first national standards body.
As the UK National Standards Body, BSI helps improve the quality and safety of products, services, and systems by enabling the creation of standards and encouraging their use. BSI represents UK economic and social interests across all European and international standards organizations and in the development of business information solutions for British organizations of all sizes and sectors.
BSI publishes over 3,100 standards each year, underpinned by a collaborative approach that engages industry experts, government bodies, trade associations, businesses of all sizes and consumers to develop standards that reflect good business practice, protect consumers, and facilitate international trade.
Standards
International standards from ISO and IEC are adopted through BSI as British Standards to create a common language for trading partners. They deliver simpler market access globally. The majority of British standards are international, and are actively worked on by UK stakeholders, helping to equip all businesses, including SMEs, for international trade.
Testing, Inspection and Certification
BSI offers a range of testing and certification services including new product development, pre-assessment, gap analysis, batch testing and full compliance testing. BSI – a Notified Body for CE marking, an Approved Body for UKCA marking, and owner of BSI Kitemark certification – has one of the widest testing and certification capabilities in the world.
Publication of Technical Regulations
On August 1, 2023, the UK Department for Business and Trade announced an indefinite extension to the use of CE marking for businesses. The UKCA mark was due to go into effect December 2024, but following extensive engagement with industry, businesses will be able to continue the use of CE marking. The UKCA mark is also accepted. The announcement was part of a wider government effort designed to ease business burdens by eliminating barriers and bureaucratic hurdles.
For guidance and information on placing goods on the market in the UK, see the guidance on placing manufactured goods on the market in Great Britain. There is also separate guidance for medical devices, rail interoperability, construction products and civil explosives. For more information on specialist markings, see the guidance on using the UKCA marking.
Contact Information
For questions linked to certification issues (i.e., CE or UKCA marking) please visit BSI Group.
Phone number: +011 44 345 080 9000
Address:
BSI Group
389 Chiswick High Road
London W4 4AL
Use ePing to review proposed technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures.
The ePing SPS&TBT platform (https://epingalert.org/), or “ePing”, provides access to notifications made by World Trade Organization (WTO) Members under the Agreements on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) and Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), distributed by the WTO from January 16, 1995 to present. ePing is available to all stakeholders free of charge and does not require registration unless the user wishes to receive customized e-mail alerts. Use it to browse notifications on past as well as new draft and updated product regulations, food safety and animal and plant health standards and regulations, find information on trade concerns discussed in the WTO SPS and TBT Committees, locate information on SPS/TBT Enquiry Points and notification authorities, and to follow and review current and past notifications concerning regulatory actions on products, packaging, labeling, food safety and animal and plant health measures in markets of interest.
Notify U.S., operated and maintained by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) since 2003 to distribute and provide access to notifications (and associated draft texts) made under the WTO TBT Agreement for US stakeholders, has reached its end of life. Per obligation under the TBT Agreement, each WTO Member operates a national TBT (and an SPS) Enquiry Point. National TBT Enquiry Points are authorized to accept comments and official communications from other national TBT Enquiry Points, which are NOT part of the WTO or the WTO Secretariat. All comment submissions from U.S. stakeholders, including businesses, trade associations, U.S domiciled standards development organizations and conformity assessment bodies, consumers, or U.S. government agencies on notifications to the WTO TBT Committee should be sent directly to the USA WTO TBT Inquiry Point. Refer to the comment guidance at https://tsapps.nist.gov/notifyus/data/guidance/guidance.cfm for further information. This guidance is provided to assist U.S. stakeholders in the preparation and submission of comments in response to notifications of proposed foreign technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures.
For EU CCG: Include reference to article with a video on CE Mark https://www.trade.gov/ce-marking