Crucial developments in UK product legislation you may have missed during the summer holidays

Two months ago, on 21 July 2025, the UK Product Regulation and Metrology Act 2025 (the “Act”) received royal assent and came into effect. While potentially overlooked during the peak holiday season and not helped by its title (which includes ‘metrology’ but omits its core ‘product safety’ remit), this is arguably the single most important development in UK product laws in a long time. 

The Act opens the door to further alignment with newly adopted EU laws and standards, greater enforcement powers, the closure of perceived ‘loopholes’ and adaptation to modern technological challenges, and will have significant implications for distance sales and online marketplaces (“OMPs”). This article provides an overview of the powers introduced by the Act in these areas and the secondary legislation that may follow.

Powers to ensure alignment with EU standards

The Act grants powers to the UK government to adopt regulations via statutory instruments (secondary legislation) that correspond to or are similar to EU law in certain areas.

The powers apply in relation to the marketing or use of products for the purposes of reducing or mitigating risks they may present; ensuring that products operate efficiently or effectively; and ensuring that products designed for weighing or measuring operate accurately. They also apply in relation to EU law provisions for  the purpose of reducing or mitigating environmental impact of products.

Originally conceived as a means to align UK product safety requirements and metrology legislation with the EU, the Act’s scope was expanded to now cover – at least in theory – most types of EU product legislation, the vast majority of which is concerned with safety and reducing environmental impact of products. It is not entirely clear, however, how this will interact with existing UK legislation that diverges from EU requirements, such as the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act 2022 (discussed in more detail here). Movement towards increased alignment is likely to be welcomed by businesses grappling with the cost and practical burden associated with placing products on both the UK and GB markets.

It would also help prevent products of a lower standard being placed on the GB market as a by-product of higher EU standards.

Levelling the playing field between the high street and OMPs

Another priority established by the UK Government is to ensure that the greater choice and convenience provided by e-commerce is not at the expense of consumer safety. The Act provides a new definition of OMPs as a starting point – incidentally this definition is  not the same as that introduced by the EU General Product Safety Regulation (“EU GPSR”), despite calls for alignment.

Greater enforcement powers

The Government expressed concerns that existing enforcement powers under the Consumer Protection Act 1987 failed to allow for tailored and specific provisions, and that amendments introduced by the Consumer Rights Act 2015 did not reflect the breadth of potential harm. The new Act explicitly empowers product regulations to create new criminal offences, impose civil sanctions and provide relevant authorities (such as the Office for Product Safety and Standards, “OPSS”) with powers to secure compliance. It also proposes greater data sharing between regulators and market surveillance authorities, which could lead to the creation of new data-sharing gateways to obtain product safety information. 

The enforcement direction of the Act echoes the EU GPSR, which provides market surveillance authorities with enhanced powers to enforce compliance.

Secondary legislation on the horizon

As an enabling act, the Act does not itself introduce new product safety regulations. A raft of further legislation is anticipated. Using the powers provided by the Act, the Government has signalled its intention to legislate in the following areas:

• Updates to compliance and enforcement mechanisms, strengthening the ability of authorities to monitor and address non-compliance in the marketplace.
• Introduction of new product requirements, setting out how consumer goods must be manufactured, the technical standards they must meet, and the rules governing their marketing. These changes are anticipated to create additional responsibilities for manufacturers, importers, and OMP operators.
• Provisions specifically designed to enhance the safety of goods sold via OMPs, including the development of tailored product requirements for items marketed through these platforms.
• Amendments to address current safety concerns, such as increased fire risks linked to e-bikes and lithium-ion batteries.
• Reforms to accommodate technological progress, including the integration of artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies.
• Measures granting the UK government increased flexibility to recognise and adopt new or revised EU product regulations, such as the continued or future use of the CE marking.

On 22 July 2025, the UK Government published a Code of Conduct outlining how it intends to use the new powers under the Act, emphasising proportionate, evidence-based secondary legislation and ongoing stakeholder engagement.

Conclusion

The Act is a welcome step in recognising the societal and technological changes that have occurred since the existing UK product safety legislation was introduced. Importantly, the Act forms part of a wider regulatory reform agenda aimed at modernising the UK’s approach to product safety and consumer protection. This includes the Law Commission’s full-scale review of the UK’s product liability regime, launched on 31 July 2025, which examines how existing laws apply to emerging technologies such as AI-driven and digital products. This is not part of the Act itself, but is a parallel reform that complements the Act’s goal.

The hope is that through the Act and the anticipated secondary legislation, the UK will be better positioned to respond to and regulate modern safety issues. Further alignment with EU standards could also significantly reduce the pressure on businesses to comply with varying standards across the UK and EU markets.

It is also a notable reversal of previous governments’ approach to create a “bonfire” of EU environmental legislation, shifting instead towards adopting equivalent UK laws to those adopted in the EU since Brexit.

However, the greater flexibility provided by the Act comes at the cost of increased uncertainty as to the direction the UK will take. It cannot be said that the Act sets the UK on a clearly defined path. Secondary legislation will be crucial in clarifying how these uncertainties are addressed and what shape UK product regulation will ultimately take.

For further information please contact the authors or your usual CMS contact.