New legislation will guide new powers to ensure product safety.
According to background briefing notes to the King’s Speech published last month, the Product Safety and Metrology Bill aims to preserve the UK’s status as a global leader in product regulation, supporting businesses and protecting consumers.
It will ensure the UK is better placed to address modern day safety issues, harness opportunities that deliver economic growth, and ensure a level playing field between the high street and online marketplaces.
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The briefing notes that the majority of the UK’s product safety and metrology framework is derived from EU law. But as technology and regulation continue to develop, the UK needs “new powers to address current or future threats and hazards and ensure a continued supply of safe goods…”. The Bill will enable the UK to make “the sovereign choice to mirror or diverge from updated EU rules…[to] maintain high product safety, while supporting businesses and economic growth”.
The Bill aims to:
According to an article by Emilie Civatte and Paula Margolis of law firm Kennedys, the Bill sits against a backdrop of other developing regulatory frameworks, such as those relating to:
Lithium-ion batteries: The framework governing lithium-ion batteries is expected to develop following the publication of the UK’s Battery Strategy in November 2023, say Civatte and Margolis. While the EU’s new Batteries Regulation 2023/154 (which lays down mandatory requirements including those relating to safety) will not apply in the UK, the Bill may provide opportunity for alignment with EU safety-related obligations.
AI: The UK’s ‘pro-innovation’ approach to AI regulation may explain the absence of a dedicated AI Bill in the King’s Speech, say the authors. The current UK approach is to empower industry regulators to implement bespoke measures to address the risks posed by AI within their sectors – in accordance with guiding principles. The Bill is expected to introduce new AI-related obligations which industry regulators may need to account for within their own respective frameworks.
