How will UK technical standards operate following the completion of Brexit?

No one knows for sure, but who is better placed to read the runes than the British Standards Institution, which has watched over UK standards for more than a century.

The short answer is that a number of standards used in the UK could be affected as soon as the deal is complete.

“13% of European standards used in the UK have special status in EU – explosive atmospheres, for example,” BSI director of Standards policy David Bell told Electronics Weekly.

Currently, anyone in the world can manufacture using one of these European standards as a prescription, and this gives them conformity with EU law.

For example, if you make something that gives off EMI, you can use the European standard, and you only need to get one set of test done to show that you meet European law, said Bell.

As an aside, the legal responsibility for compliance to the European standard rests on whoever places the item on the EU market – essentially the importer.

After Brexit is completed, on the technical level UK companies exporting to the EU will continue largely unchanged, testing to the European specification as they have done before.

Politically, their products may now be subject to an EU tariff, but that requires a crystal ball and is outside the scope of this article.

The real change for UK manufacturers using those specifications will come if they sell into the UK market, and UK plc decides to diverge from the EU regulations.

“The UK Government says that UK laws will diversify from the European Union. If this happens, these European specifications – for example showing compliance with the EU safety of toys Directive – may not have the same status in Britain,” said Bell. “If UK law is different after Bexit, the UK might need additional standards for the UK laws.”

Who will decide when and where the UK should diversify?

“It is up to the stakeholders,” said Bell. “The government could create a new law, industry might see a need when something new comes up, or the consumer movement could identify something – for example a best-practice standard against on-line harm.”

Don’t confuse European with the European Union

Many standards used in the UK are standards produced in the European bodies CEN (European Committee for Standardization), CENELEC (European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization) and ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards Institute). They are not EU institutions.

CEN and CENELEC, for example, are federations of 34 national standards bodies.

Each of the national standards bodies creates a technical committee to agree a national position. The technical committees consist of representatives from organisations which have an interest and expertise in the standard subject matter, typically industry bodies, research and testing organisations, local and central government, consumers, academics and standards users.

Together the committee reaches a consensus on a standard that can be used for the benefit of trade across borders.

All three organisations, of which BSI is a member, produce European standards known as ‘EN…’ (European Norm) standards.

When a European standards body has adopted an international standard known as an ‘ISO’ standard from the international standards body ISO, these are referenced ‘EN ISO…’, and when adopted by the UK become ‘BS EN ISO…’ – such as BS EN ISO 14971:2019 for medical device risk management.

BSI also develops British Standards entirely within the UK, covering subjects not covered by international or European standardisation.

Half of UK standards have come through the European EN process and, points out Bell, around 95% of all British Standards are implementing a standard worked on with people from countries across the globe “from China to Argentina. A move in the last 50-plus years has been to develop common standards around the world: not the political world, but the technical world – they apply even if governments disagrees on tariffs.”

There is no reason that the way these standards work within the UK should change with Brexit, although there is a slight change needed around the UK’s membership of the European standards bodies.

“We are trying to stay in the European system and cooperate where ever it meets UK needs,” said Bell. “We want to stay in CEN and CENELEC, but to be in them, their statutes say you have to be in EFTA, the EU, or potentially be joining the EU like Turkey. No one thought anyone would ever leave, so we are now negotiating to change the rules of CEN and CENELEC.”

What is Bell looking for in the end.

“We are trying to build a system that is flexible enough to deal with whatever is coming,” he said. “We are looking for maximum influence in the European system, as we will probably use the European system for standards in most circumstances, and we are looking for the maximum flexibility to do our own thing whenever we need to.”

How about the ‘US trade deal’?

Some UK politicians are setting great store in a trade deal with the USA. Is the UK likely to have to sign up to US standards?

“As we move to US-UK trade deal, will there be more alignment? This remains to be seen,” said Bell. “We are trying to avoid a trade deal that mandates a particular set of standards.”

He points out that the US equivalent to BSI, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), is a member of ISO and IEC and therefore already part of global cooperation on technical standards.

As an aside, the US has a unique system, said Bell. The ANSI has several hundred organisations, writing standards sometimes in competition with each other – IEEE is one of them. These are ‘US standards developing organisations’ (USSDOs).

“We need to do what is right for the stakeholders in the UK. We won’t hand over UK standards to USSDOs,” said Bell. “They are all credible organisations that produce great standards, but UK engineers want standards that they influence. It is again about influencing and the flexibility to pick the right options.”

Does he have a message for everyone?

“Think of standards as a passport for trade,” said Bell. “If you have questions, BSI is more than happy to help.”

More on: The British Standards Institution

The British Standards Institution, branded as BSI, is (and has always has been) a private company.

Its roots are in the 1901 British Engineering Standards Committee, which became the British Engineering Standards Association, gaining a Royal Charter in 1929, and shortly after that becoming the BSI.

It was a key player, or the key player, in the founding of: IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission), ISO (International Organisation for Standardisation) and CEN, the European equivalent to ISO. It works with IET to maintain the UK wiring regulations.

Today it is a huge organisation, owning commercial testing and consulting activities all over the world.

It represents the UK’s interest as a member of global standards organisations including CEN (European Committee for Standardization), CENELEC (European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization), ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards Institute) and ISO (international standards organisation).

For UK standards policy “the Department of Business owns standards policy and is our main government sponsor,” BSI director of standards policy David Bell told Electronics Weekly. “In our memorandum of understanding, they set out our role in respect of our activities as the United Kingdom’s National Standards Body.”

BSI does not create standards, but oversees their creation.

“We are not technical experts,” said Bell. “We bring together experts – 14,000 of them: academics, regulators, industry manufactures and consumers – anyone with a legitimate interest in a topic is invited to participate.”

According to Bell, standards policy has been a European and international effort in years past, but with Brexit more standards may be built in the UK. “BSI is growing,” he said, “investing in Government-engagement to expand Government understanding about standards.”