28 Sep UKCA – What does ‘Placed on the Market’ mean
Government guidance refers to goods being placed on the GB market but does not provide a clear definition of what is meant. BIAFD has asked the Department of Business, Goods Regulation for a clear definition. It’s questionable whether it is really clear but is provided below together with BIAFD comments.
“An individual fully manufactured good is ‘placed on the market’ when it is first made available for distribution, consumption or use on the GB market (England, Scotland, and Wales) in the course of a commercial activity, whether in return for payment or free of charge. This requires an offer or agreement for the transfer of ownership, possession, or any other property right of an individual good, after the stage of manufacture is complete. This does not require the physical transfer of the good.
Proof of placing on the market can be through any document ordinarily used in business transactions. For example, a contract of sale or an invoice.
Under the legislation, manufacturers and importers are the only ‘economic operators’ who place goods on the market. When a manufacturer or an importer supplies a good to a distributor or end user in GB for the first time, the good is considered to be ‘placed on the market’. Any subsequent operation, for example, supply from distributor to distributor, or from a distributor to an end-user, is defined as ‘making available’. ”
Provided by BEIS Goods Regulation 11.08.22
For BIAFD the legal definition is far from explicit. It can be interpreted to mean that goods that have not yet entered UK may still be deemed as placed on the market. The ‘spirit’ of this, however, appears mainly to be aimed at a product, such as a computer, which has been ordered by/invoiced to a user/consumer and is then being shipped into the UK.