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The RYA has announced it will withdraw as a Notified Body for the
Recreational Craft Directive (RCD) and the Personal Protective Equipment
Directive.

The RYA will step back at the end of this year after nearly 10 years as a Notified Body.

The surprise decision was made following a review of the RYA Notified Body
activities which found the RYA had achieved the majority of its goals set back in 1998.

RYA technical manager Bas Edmonds said: ‘This is not a decision
we have taken lightly but when the activity as a whole was looked at,
it became clear that it had achieved its objectives and that now was a
good opportunity to look at how the RYA Technical
Department could adapt its services to move more in-line with its
personal membership.

‘We will of course continue to work with our current
clients over the next couple of months and help them complete their
projects where possible and if needs be help them
transfer their projects onto other Notified Bodies.’

First introduced in
1998 the RCD was brought in as a trade directive to ensure that all
boats built and imported into the European Union were built and sold
above a minimum set of standards. Once implemented, the
RYA’s involvement as a Notified Body looked to provide manufacturers
with a less daunting option than a Classification Society and at a more
reasonable cost, as well as allowing the RYA hands on experience with
the standards prescribed within the RCD and
the ability to assess and influence those standards.

The RYA said it has completed a wide range of
assessments working with some major British manufacturers
in getting their models assessed and onto the water, as well as with individuals looking to import boats from
outside of the EU, home build boats and component parts such as steering
wheels.

Bas went on to explain: ‘By withdrawing from the RCD it does mean that the range of services
offered by the RYA Technical Department will be slightly different and
we are looking at a number of options and services
we can offer in its place that will appeal to a wider range of the
membership. However we will continue to offer services such as the issue
of Craft Identification Numbers and the RCD Web subscription website.

‘The RYA will continue
to keep a close eye on both the practical day to day processes involved
in the RCD as well as influencing both the ISO Standards and the EU
Directive at the highest levels to ensure that the
end result is a safe, sensible boat for the end user.’