The Batteries (Placing on the Market) (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2026, SI 2026/1053, were made on 25 September 2026 and most provisions come into force on 17 October 2026. One amendment in regulation 20(4) starts later, on the date from which Article 11 of Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 applies. While some Parts extend across the United Kingdom for administrative purposes, the substantive placing-on-the-market rules are directed at Northern Ireland. According to the Explanatory Note, the instrument is the domestic enforcement and administration package for Regulation (EU) 2023/1542, the EU batteries regulation that applies in Northern Ireland under the Windsor Framework and section 7A of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. The Regulations therefore do not restate the full EU rulebook. They provide the UK-side detail on marking, notified bodies, appeals, offences, enforcement and movement into the Great Britain market.
The first operational change falls on batteries carrying the CE marking on the basis of a certificate of conformity or approval decision issued by a UK notified body. Regulation 3 requires those batteries to carry the UK(NI) indication alongside the CE marking. The mark must be visible, legible and indelible before the battery is placed on the market or put into service, although an authorised representative may apply it where a written mandate expressly covers that function. That is more than a presentational requirement. The Regulations also prohibit a person from making such a battery available on the market if the manufacturer, or authorised representative, has not applied the UK(NI) indication correctly. For manufacturers, importers and distributors, the immediate compliance question is therefore not only whether the battery meets the EU technical rules, but whether the chosen conformity assessment route triggers the additional Northern Ireland marking step.
Part 3 assigns the Secretary of State the role of notifying authority for UK notified bodies under Article 22 of Regulation (EU) 2023/1542. If a body's notification is restricted, suspended or withdrawn, or if the body ceases activity, it must provide documents requested by the Secretary of State so that oversight functions under Article 31(2) can still be carried out. The same Part also tightens procedure around certification decisions. A UK notified body that refuses, restricts, suspends or withdraws a certificate of conformity or approval decision must give written notice and reasons to the relevant person. That matters because Part 4 and Schedule 1 create a formal appeal route to the Secretary of State, normally within two months of notice, with either written representations or a hearing. If the appeal succeeds, the notified body must alter its decision to give effect to the outcome.
The appeal system is more structured than a short reading might suggest. The Secretary of State may appoint a person to determine the appeal, or to report on matters arising in it, and a hearing must be included if the appellant asks for one or the Secretary of State directs that one take place. The person hearing the appeal may hold the hearing wholly or partly in private, and any final decision must be given in writing with reasons. For regulated businesses, that creates a clearer challenge route than a simple internal review by the conformity assessment body. The appellant must send the notice of appeal, grounds, decision notice and relevant correspondence to the Secretary of State, while also copying the UK notified body. Late appeals are still possible, but only where the Secretary of State accepts that there is good reason.
Part 5 turns both the domestic Regulations and listed provisions of Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 into enforceable offences. Enforcement sits with the Secretary of State, who may appoint another person to act on the Secretary of State's behalf. Breach of the UK(NI) marking duties in regulation 3 is criminalised, as are breaches of the EU obligations listed in Schedule 2, which are divided between summary-only, either-way and indictable-only categories. The penalty structure escalates accordingly. Summary offences can attract a level 5 fine, either-way offences can attract a summary fine up to the statutory maximum or a fine on indictment, and the most serious indictable-only offences can attract up to 12 months' imprisonment, a fine, or both. The court may also order a person to remedy matters within a specified time and may require reimbursement of the Secretary of State's investigation and testing costs.
The procedural provisions are also important. Summary proceedings for the relevant offences may begin within 12 months from the date on which sufficient evidence comes to the prosecutor's knowledge, but not more than three years after the offence itself. A due diligence defence is available only for a defined set of obligations in Regulation (EU) 2023/1542, and reliance on another person's information will not help unless that reliance was reasonable and, in some cases, disclosed in advance to the prosecutor. Liability can extend beyond the immediate seller or importer. Where one person's offence is caused by another person's act or omission in the course of business, that other person may also be prosecuted. Company officers can likewise be liable where consent, connivance or negligence is proved. Separate provisions standardise service of notices by hand, post or email and fix when documents are treated as served, including Northern Ireland bank holiday rules.
Part 7 is where the instrument's internal market effect becomes clear. The Batteries and Accumulators (Placing on the Market) Regulations 2008 are revoked for Northern Ireland, but with savings that keep certain older provisions alive until the corresponding EU rules take over. Capacity labelling continues under the old regime in Northern Ireland until Article 13(1) of Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 applies, and the appliance-related rule in regulation 7 of the 2008 Regulations continues until Article 11 applies. At the same time, the 2008 Regulations are recast so that their remaining territorial focus is Great Britain. Regulation 20 inserts a new deeming provision under which a battery that complies with Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 and the new Northern Ireland UK(NI) marking rule, and that is a qualifying Northern Ireland good, may be placed on the Great Britain market as if the Great Britain rules were met. For cross-border supply chains, that is the provision reducing the risk of duplicated market-entry requirements.
The final Parts deal with consequential changes and transition. The Regulations are added to the Enterprise Act 2002 Part 9 disclosure list, regulation 9 is added into the Market Surveillance (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2021 as enforcer legislation, and Commission Regulation (EU) No 1103/2010 on capacity labelling is updated so its exemptions work with the new EU batteries regime. Part 9 also limits immediate disruption by disapplying Part 5 to batteries already placed on the market, put into service or made available before that Part starts, unless those batteries are later modified, repurposed, remanufactured or otherwise altered in a way that could affect compliance. The Explanatory Note says no full impact assessment has been produced because no significant impact on the private, voluntary or public sector is foreseen. DEFRA has instead prepared a de minimis assessment on the basis that the net annual cost is expected to remain below £10 million. That assessment may matter less than the legal structure, but it signals the department's view that the instrument is chiefly about fitting Northern Ireland into an existing regulatory system rather than creating a wholly new market regime.