2023.01.12

The proposal for a REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL amending Regulations (EU) 2017/745 and (EU) 2017/746 as regards the transitional provisions for certain medical devices and in vitro diagnostic medical devices was adopted on January 6, 2023 by the Commission. The Parliament and the Council will now have to adopt the proposal via an accelerated co-decision procedure. 

See here the official press released and here the proposal.

Key elements of the proposal according to the Commission press release:

  • For medical devices covered by a certificate or a declaration of conformity issued before 26 May 2021, the transition period to the new rules is extended from 26 May 2024 to 31 December 2027 for higher risk devices and until 31 December 2028 for medium and lower risk devices. The extension will be subject to certain conditions, so that only devices that are safe and for which manufacturers have already taken steps to transition to the rules provided for by the Medical Devices Regulation will benefit from the additional time.
  • The proposal introduces a transition period until 26 May 2026 also for class III implantable custom-made devices, giving their manufacturers more time to obtain certification by a notified body. Also in this case, the transition period is subject to the application of the manufacturer for a conformity assessment of devices of this type before 26 May 2024.
  • To reflect the transition periods put forward by these amendments, the proposal extends the validity of certificates issued up until 26 May 2021, the day when the Medical Devices Regulation became applicable.
  • The Commission also proposes to remove the ‘sell-off' date currently established in the Medical Devices Regulation and in the In Vitro Diagnostic Medical Devices Regulation. The ‘sell-off' date is the end date after which devices that have already been placed on the market, and remain available for purchase, should be withdrawn. Removing this ‘sell-off' date will ensure that safe and essential medical devices that are already on the market remain available to healthcare systems and to patients in need.

For the next steps, the proposal still has to go through the legislative procedure to be adopted as law!