Trade Continuity Agreement Protocol between the United Kingdom and Canada

On behalf of their respective governments, the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) and the Standards Council of Canada (SCC) are implementing the Protocol on the mutual acceptance of the results of conformity assessment included in the Canada-UK Trade Continuity Agreement (TCA).

The Protocol aims to allow the mutual recognition and acceptance of accreditation, enabling industry to have their products certified to the other party’s requirements. This means that the UK recognises that Canada’s accredited conformity assessment bodies (CABs) possess the competence required to certify products to UK requirements (and vice versa).

This allows CABs to conduct conformity assessment activities for both economies, resulting in faster certification, improved product quality and safety, time and money savings for UK and Canadian industries, and lower costs for consumers.

The Protocol is an important mechanism for giving UK and Canadian small-to-medium sized businesses a competitive export advantage in the global market.

UKAS and SCC have been working together to design and implement a framework for recognising and accepting each other’s CABs. This work includes learning our respective requirements and establishing a process for the recognition of UK CABs as Approved Bodies in Canada, and for recognition of Canadian CABs as accredited bodies in the UK.

The first product category to be activated under this Protocol will be ATEX/HAZLOC (e.g., equipment and machines for use in potentially explosive atmospheres). UK CABs can expect to be able to submit applications for scope extensions to include the HAZLOC product category in their scopes of accreditation in Q1 of 2024 (Calendar Year). UKAS and SCC are currently working together to plan for the implementation of other product categories.

For further information on the framework, or interest in specific product group categories to be mobilized for your business needs, please refer to the contact information below.

United Kingdom Accreditation Services
Kevin Belson
Technical Manager – International
[email protected]

Standards Council of Canada
Dean Taleb, Senior Policy Analyst
[email protected]