Dodgy lighting products may flood UK after Brexit?

[ocset]

Hello
An ex colleague has been contacted by a Chinese company who want him
to set up a lighting company in the UK and then allow them to sell
their Chinese products into the post Brexit UK economy. (pretending that they are British designed and built products).
How can i desuade him from complying with this?
I believe it is too dangerous, and many of the products may be technically dodgy, and not every single product
can be tested.
However, with the EU tariffs no longer applicable to UK in 40 days time, its too irresistable to him.
Do you know of any disiater stories of faulty Chinese lighting products that i can convince him with?

[IanB]

For heaven's sake, stop with the silly posts.

[Gyro]

Your friend seems to be forever being contacted by Chinese companies. It was toys last time wasn't it? 

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/wish-to-make-bring-electric-toy-cars-to-market/msg1672160/#msg1672160

[ataradov]

Yeah, your friend gets a lot of offers. Stop talking to him, you both will end up in jail going like that.

[timgiles]

Whether your friend buys poor quality rubbish of any type pre or post Brexit - there will be either EU or British agencies after them if the devices are dangerous or do not meet the British standards

[MrMobodies]

An ex colleague has been contacted by a Chinese company who want him to set up a lighting company in the UK and then allow them to sell
their Chinese products into the post Brexit UK economy. (pretending that they are British designed and built products).

Pretending that they are made in Britain goes to show the level of dishonesty.

That would be mis selling.

Most things are made in China so I don't know what they are concerned about.

I have seen a few Chinese sellers on Ebay and they don't appear to live here. I believe that own warehouses in England. I know this as when I search for things in the UK but their listings turn up and their registered Chinese address is at the bottom of the listings.

Maybe not all of them own warehouses here and look for middlemen like your friend and make their problems selling it in the UK his own.

[ebastler]

Regarding compliance requirements, the UK government intends to introduce their own, local conformity requirements and markings, which will replace CE marking, but will have similar requirements:

Rules around affixing the new UK conformity marking will mirror those which currently apply for the application of the CE marking.

There will be a transition period where CE marking is still accepted, but the duration is not known yet:

... goods made and assessed against EU regulatory requirements can continue to be placed on the UK market after 29 March 2019. This is intended to be for a time-limited period.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/trading-goods-regulated-under-the-new-approach-if-theres-no-brexit-deal/trading-goods-regulated-under-the-new-approach-if-theres-no-brexit-deal

So, not much will change regarding the legality of cheap, low-quality imports. (But also the reality, which may be a different matter...)
@treez, I agree with others here: Stop talking to that "friend" of yours, he's bad luck...

[AndyC_772]

Nobody has a bloody clue what the regulatory regime will look like yet.

No good reason exists why we shouldn't keep requiring just the CE mark, nor why we shouldn't be able to test products to CE standards, apply the mark ourselves and sell products overseas. Yet the latest I've heard is something about a "UKCA" mark, which even the EMC labs I spoke to a couple of weeks ago hadn't heard of.

It's a fair bet, though, that crappy lighting products will be imported and sold. Just like they already are.

Nothing will change, except perhaps where the finger of blame gets pointed.

[Gyro]

No good reason exists why we shouldn't keep requiring just the CE mark, nor why we shouldn't be able to test products to CE standards, apply the mark ourselves and sell products overseas. Yet the latest I've heard is something about a "UKCA" mark, which even the EMC labs I spoke to a couple of weeks ago hadn't heard of.

Agreed, no drama involved. Harmonized EN standards in the UK are marked BS-ENxxxx. Some unique standards (eg UK mains plugs) are BS standards anyway.  Nothing's going to change in the forseeable future in terms of test standards, it's not in anyone's interest, CE mark will do just fine. We even have the good old BS kitemark symbol to fall back on if we want to re-introduce it.

[SiliconWizard]

What would make anyone think that the UK will be more attractive to chinese companies when it gets out of the EU?

However, with the EU tariffs no longer applicable to UK in 40 days time, its too irresistable to him.

First, no one knows about this as of yet. Second, if no deal is found on EU tariffs, this is not unlikely that the import taxes will actually increase (whereas you seem to imply that they would disappear altogether, which makes no sense.)

As to regulatory matters, I see no reason why the UK would give up on the CE mark or anything related. They may or may not add their own standards over time, but not in the short term. Many countries outside of the EU do the same. A lot of them comply with the CE requirements, and some have additional requirements for their own market.

As if exiting the EU would suddenly make a country with no law and no rules. Seriously?

If anyone wants to work for a chinese company, as long as they don't infringe on any law/copyright/patent/..., so be it.
Using pseudo-political reasons and uninformed predictions as an excuse sounds pathetic though.

[IanMacdonald]

Whether your friend buys poor quality rubbish of any type pre or post Brexit - there will be either EU or British agencies after them if the devices are dangerous or do not meet the British standards

Prior to the EU we had BS standards, which in spite of the name were about as respected worldwide as a symbol of quality as are German TUV standards.