On 19th December 2018, the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs has published the Updated Guidance on Regulating chemicals (REACH) if there’s no Brexit deal’. This Guidance explains how businesses producing, registering, importing or exporting chemicals would be affected if the UK leaves the EU in March 2019 with no deal.
In the unlikely event of a no deal, the UK Government would ensure UK legislation replaces EU legislation via the EU Withdrawal Act, establish a UK regulatory framework and build domestic capacity to deliver the functions currently performed by ECHA. The legislation would preserve REACH as far as possible, while making technical changes that would need to be made because the UK has left the EU.
If UK will leave the EU without a deal, companies with substances registered under REACH would no longer be able to sell into the EEA market without transferring their registrations to an EEA-based organisation.UK downstream users currently importing chemicals from an EEA country would face new registration requirements according to the Guidance. Under Britain’s replacement for REACH, importers would have a duty to register chemicals. Similarly UK downstream users of authorisations would no longer be able to rely on authorisation decisions addressed to companies in the remaining EEA countries.
carry into the UK system all existing authorisations to continue using higher-risk chemicals held by UK companies.
importing businesses would be responsible for identifying appropriate risk management measures and recommending them to their customers.
UK companies with existing REACH registrations wishing to maintain EEA market access would need to refer to guidance on the ECHA website on the steps they would need to take. Existing UK registrants would, for example, need to transfer their registrations to an appropriate EEA-based entity (such as an affiliate or an OR) or develop new working relationships with their EEA customers. This would require action before the UK leaves the EU.
UK companies wishing to register new chemicals for the EEA market after the UK leaves the EU would need to register those with ECHA as they do now, but would need to do so via their EU customers or an OR. Further guidance on how to do this can be found on the ECHA website.
Guidance – Regulating chemicals (REACH) if there’s no Brexit deal, updated on the Government webpage on 19th Dec 2018.
Share the post "UK: Updated Guidance on Regulating chemicals (REACH) if there is no Brexit deal"