The King’s Speech 2024: The Product Safety and Metrology Bill: same same but different?

This article was co-authored by Tegan Johnson, Solicitor Apprentice. 

Yesterday’s King’s Speech offers a chance to analyse not only the new government’s policies, but also their priorities: out of all the pledges in a long manifesto, which issues are considered so key to be brought forward at the very first opportunity?

One notable highlight is the Product Safety and Metrology Bill which is to be led by the Department for Business and Trade.  

As set out in the background briefing notes, the Bill aims to preserve the UK’s status as a global leader in product regulation, ensuring that 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”.  It also pledges to support businesses and foster innovation whilst protecting consumers. 

Bill highlights The Bill will cover “nearly all manufactured products”, including consumer products and metrology, and aims to address: Current and emerging threats to consumer safety, specifically mentioning incidents involving the ingestion of button batteries and the fire risks associated with batteries and electric bikes; Technological advances such as artificial intelligence (AI); Increasingly complex supply chains and business models developing over the past decade, including those seen in online marketplaces; and The challenges posed by “modern, digital borders” and the need for improvements to compliance and enforcement.

Product safety regulatory reform: a long time coming

Proposals for a new, modernised product safety regulatory framework have been in the works for quite some time. The Office for Product Safety and Standards (“OPSS”) highlighted the importance of regular review in 2018. 

This was followed by the OPSS’s Product Safety Review in March 2021, which included a call for evidence. The OPSS invited stakeholders’ views on the long-term approach to product safety in the UK and on how the existing framework, including the General Product Safety Regulations 2005, could be strengthened to ensure that it was fit for the future. The outcome of this review was published in November in 2021.  In August 2023, the OPSS opened a further consultation on product safety reform. However, a response was not published following closure of the consultation in October 2023.

The new Bill appears to address some of the same issues, such as new technologies and new business models, but with a new approach to how it addresses .

EU divergence

The Bill intends to address EU-level issues, including the operation of the Windsor framework and policy divergence between the UK and EU post Brexit.  Notably, it intends to ensure that the government has powers to: 

• update the law to recognise new or updated EU product regulations, including CE marking, where appropriate, and provide regulatory stability; and
• Ensure that the UK can end recognition of EU product regulations, providing it is in the best interests of UK businesses and consumers.

It would appear that the Government is leaving the door open to future alignment with aspects of the EU regulatory framework, where beneficial to the UK. This would have obvious potential application to the EU’s new General Product Safety Regulation, effective from 13 December 2024, which puts new obligations on manufacturers in respect of new technologies and modern supply chains, including online marketplaces.  

The Bill also appears to align with the UK’s Product Safety and Metrology etc (Amendment) Regulations 2024 (the “2024 Regulations”), due to come into force on 1 October 2024.  The 2024 Regulations aim to provide businesses with flexibility to continue placing goods that meet EU requirements, such as CE marking, on the GB market.  

A knock on effect for product liability?

With the EU’s new Product Liability Directive expected to come into force this year, the Bill could also bring the question of product liability legislative reform into sharper focus. Such reform was raised by the OPSS in its 2021 Product Safety Review, and by the Law Commission in its consultations on the regulatory and liability frameworks for autonomous vehicles and aviation autonomy. 

Interaction with other product safety-related proposals

The Bill also sits against a backdrop of other developing regulatory frameworks, including 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. Whilst 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 respect to 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. 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.

Looking ahead

Not all King’s Speech Bills move forward (quickly or at all).  

Nevertheless, we expect this Bill to progress given the government’s focus on innovation as a driver for delivering economic growth.  To that end, the Bill intends to ensure that UK regulators are properly equipped to ensure the safe development and supply of new technologies, thereby making the UK an attractive market for innovators.

We will continue to report on the development of the Bill over the coming months.