I hope you’ve had a relaxing break and managed to recharge your batteries ready to take on the challenges of 2021. This time last year, no one could have predicted how 2020 would have panned out…!
As is the case for the majority of people and businesses, 2020 was an incredibly challenging year. Even with the prospect of a third lockdown, I am trying to step into 2021 with a positive outlook.
In this blog post I want to give you a summary of what we expect in 2021, as well as a summary of the services that Castec Consulting provides.
What to expect in 2021
The first major noteworthy event was the end of the Brexit transition period, with the UK leaving the single market and customs union at 11pm on 31st December 2020. My blog 'Brexit transition period...one month to go!' highlights the type approval advice from 1st January 2021. This advice remains valid and I will keep you up to date with any developments. We expect to see consultations issued by the DfT before the middle of the year on the new Comprehensive GB Type Approval Schemes which they hope to introduce in 2022 covering the following categories of vehicles:
Motor vehicles and their trailers
Agricultural and forestry tractors
Motorcycles and quadricycles
Non-Road Mobile Machinery
Certain components or separate technical units
This should hopefully offer us the chance to help shape approval schemes that works best for the industry as a whole. We are already seeing evidence of the UK government seeking to capitalise on being an independent nation with the consultation on the Safe Use of ALKS in autumn 2020 (see my blog on this here) and their request for information in December 2020 in relation to a GB Safety Assurance & Approval Scheme for Automated Vehicles.
Also, this year we hope to see more UN ECE and EU Regulations published covering the subjects which the EU General Safety Regulation will begin to mandate in Europe from next year. Here’s hoping we see these sooner rather than later to allow time to react with the implementation dates looming. Again, I will look to keep you abreast of key updates.
Castec Consulting
We are an independent type approval, certification and compliance consultancy, assisting large OEMs and smaller low volume customers with vehicle, system and component homologation as well as supporting research agencies and policy makers as they develop the standards and legislation which will shape the future of the transport sector. The areas we provide support and assistance include:
You can find further information on the services that we provide at www.castec-consulting.com
Keep safe and well and I wish you a happy and prosperous New Year!
Castec Consulting Limited an independent Type Approval, Certification and Compliance consultancy.
We provide specialist services, predominantly in the automotive sector, for companies in the UK and globally seeking assistance in a range of areas including; Type Approval and Compliance, Vehicle Technology and Safety Research, plus the interpretation of automotive legislation.