The Foodservice Equipment Association (FEA) and the European Federation of Catering Equipment Manufacturers (EFCEM) have joined other business organisations in the UK and the EU to call for a mutual recognition agreement on product conformity assessments.
As well as reducing barriers to trade, this would assure hospitality operators that EU-made equipment would meet the same safety standards as their UK counterparts.
The alignment would include the UKCA and CE safety markings, ensuring that equipment manufactured in both regions meet the required technical standards, helping to reduce risks for end-users.
The move could be particularly important for multinational chains that use the same equipment across all their sites, as they wouldn’t need to institute different procedures for the UK.
Conformity assessment is the process of verifying that a product, service, process, or system meets specified requirements, such as standards or regulations. Since the UK left the European Union there hasn’t been a unified approach to conformity assessment between the two parties.
Business organisations from the UK and EU met in February 2025 to discuss practical measures that could be enacted to reduce the technical barriers to UK-EU trade. Recognising the shared challenges faced by industries in both areas, a mutual recognition agreement was identified as a sensible outcome of further discussions between the parties.
An agreement of this nature could increase regulatory environment stability, bringing confidence to investors and enabling scalability. Plus, greater availability of assessment bodies for UK and EU businesses would help build capacity and increase competitiveness.
This deal could be either delivered alongside other measures focused on industry, or as a standalone mini deal outside of the EU-UK Trade & Cooperation Agreement. An agreement on selected sectors could be made initially, and then scaled up over time.
John Cunningham, chief executive of FEA, said: “We are proud to join this effort to call on the UK and EU to pursue the goal of reaching an agreement on mutual recognition of conformity. It is a fully achievable and practical measure that will help to deepen the trading relationship between the UK and EU member states.”
Pictured: FEA chief executive John Cunningham
