Since the UK left the EU, the Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) between Switzerland and the EU no longer applies in the UK. This agreement covers 20 product sectors.

For three of these 20 sectors, an agreement on the mutual recognition of conformity assessments was previously agreed under the trade agreement between Switzerland and the UK of February 2019. Now, five further sectors will be covered under a new additional MRA. This concerns the sectors of transportable pressure equipment, telecommunications equipment, electromagnetic compatibility (EMC), noise emissions from equipment used outdoors, and measuring instruments. To this end, the Agreement stipulates that the Parties mutually recognise each other's conformity assessments of such products.

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With the existing MRA, products are tested according to Swiss regulations for Switzerland and according to British regulations for the UK. However, thanks to this new MRA, they only need to be tested by one conformity assessment body, either in Switzerland or in the UK. Manufacturer scan thus reduce costs and time delays when exporting to the UK. Products must bear the conformity mark of the country in which they are placed on the market.  

The MRA was approved by the Swiss Federal Council on 16 November 2022 and signed by Ambassador Markus Leitner and Amanda Brooks, Director General for Trade Negotiations in London on 17 November. The agreement will be applied provisionally from 1 January 2023 and will enter into force on 28 February 2023at the latest