Transportable Pressure Equipment (UK)

UPDATE : recognition of EU Pi-marked TPE will end on 1st Jan 2023.

I posted earlier that the government started a consultation on ending the circulation (in Britain) of EU Pi-marked Transportable Pressure Equipment (TPE) post Brexit. This consultation concluded and the government response is here.

The government response states the Carriage of Dangerous Goods and Use of Transportable Pressure Equipment Regulations 2009 (as amended) will be further amended to end recognition of EU Pi-marked TPE. The purpose of the consultation was to establish whether this amendment should come into force by 1 January 2022 or by 1 January 2023. But there is no consensus on the date, and the government response gives no date.

Answering questions raised, the government response states –

* UK Rho conformity marking was introduced in the Carriage of Dangerous Goods and Use of Transportable Pressure Equipment (EU Exit) (Amendment) Regulations 2020 (amending the 2009 Regulations). Until the regulations are further amended Rho marking remains optional. When the amendment is made, the government response states TPE placed on the market in Britain must be Rho-marked by a GB-appointed body or Pi-marked by a Northern Ireland notified body and accompanied by the UK(NI) indication.

* Under the existing 2009 regulations, TPE can be carried between Great Britain and an EU member state as long as it complies with ADR/RID, even if it is not Rho-marked. Similarly, the European Dangerous Goods Directive 2008/68/EC and the European Transportable Pressure Equipment Directive 2010/35/EU permit the carriage of TPE between a member state and a non-EU country if it complies with ADR/RID, even if it is not Pi-marked.

* Under the Northern Ireland Protocol, Northern Ireland follows the requirements of the European Transportable Pressure Equipment Directive 2010/35/EU (the TPED). EU Pi-marked TPE is accepted in both Northern Ireland and the European Union, so a further conformity assessment would not be necessary to access the market in Northern Ireland. To access both the GB and EU/NI markets the government response states dual conformity assessments would be required.

* There are no plans to amend the regulations for smaller items of TPE. Under the already amended regulations, the minimum height of the Rho marking is reduced to 2.5 millimetres for smaller cylinders with a diameter less than or equal to 140 millimetres.

* As Northern Ireland continues to follow the requirements of TPED, TPE being placed on the market must be Pi-marked by a notified body established in the EU or Northern Ireland and Rho marked TPE will not be accepted onto the NI market. Periodic inspections of Pi-marked TPE also need to be compliant with TPED in NI and conducted by EU notified bodies.

* Periodic inspections of Rho-marked TPE will need to be undertaken by a GB-appointed body. As Britain is continuing to accept TPE which has been conformity assessed by bodies established in Northern Ireland, such bodies will be able to undertake periodic inspections on TPE accepted onto the GB market. The government response states multiple conformity marks are permitted.

The (2009 Regulations) law supplied in Cardinal Environment EHS Legislation Registers and Checklists already has the 2020 amendment included.