Recently I blogged about the Brexit and BS EN Standards. As time goes on, the likelihood of a “soft Brexit” seem to be diminishing. So my initial analysis certainly looks less likely.
After the Brexit vote, there was talk of Britain taking the same path as Norway and Switzerland. That is, Britain would choose to remain part of the European Economic Area (EEA) while exiting the EU itself. This would certainly be the least disruptive option. However, with many of the statements that Prime Minister May has made, this path seems to be out of the question now.
The most recent positive news suggests that May is interested in retaining some economic ties to the EU. There is talk of adopting the entire body of EU laws and regulations. This would mean that the EN standards would remain in force in the UK after an EU exit.
However, the possibility of the British Standards Institute (BSI) remaining on as the publisher of the official English language editions of the EN standards is questionable at this point. Since Britain would not be officially part of the EU or EEA, the right to publish official documents does not seem possible in my eyes. There is no doubt that the institution would continue to audit for compliance. They would simply be assigned those rights by a Notified Body still within the remaining EU.
Many of our Document Center Inc. customers have invested in extensive collections of BS EN standards. Further, those editions are often referenced in company documentation. Moving forward, you may want to rethink this policy if you are in this situation. There are English language editions of the EN standards published by other national standards bodies. These editions have the same weight as those from BSI and are identical except for the cover sheets.
If you are uncertain of what to do, check in with your certification body first. Then, get in touch with us for suggestions of other options for your EN standards purchases. You can reach our staff by phone (650-591-7600) and email (info@document-center.com). While immediate action is not required, development of a long term strategy is certainly be advisable.
