101 UK Brexit Notes

Connemara Programme October 16 2018 pg. 170 Export and import of hazardous chemicals if there’s no Brexit deal Purpose The purpose of this notice is to outline the arrangements that would come into force to regulate chemicals in the unlikely event the UK leaves the EU on 29 March 2019 with no agreement in place, with respect to the Export and Import of Hazardous Chemicals Regulation (known as the PIC Regulation). Before 29 March 2019 The directly-applicable PIC Regulation (Regulation (EU) No 649/2012) implements in the EU the international Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade, but goes further than the Convention in applying the provisions to chemicals considered to be banned or severely restricted in the EU under other chemicals law, principally the Plant Protection Products Regulation, the Biocidal Products Regulation and the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation, and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH). The PIC Regulation requires exports of listed chemicals to be notified to the importing country and for some chemicals the consent of the importing country must be sought before export can proceed. The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) facilitates the operation of the PIC Regulation through its ePIC IT system. After March 2019 if there’s no deal The UK would establish an independent standalone PIC regime so that the UK can continue to meet its international obligations under the Rotterdam Convention. This would initially be based on the existing EU regime, with amendments to enable functions presently carried out by the EU to continue. UK exporters would continue to notify exports of listed chemicals via the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) as the UK PIC Designated National Authority (DNA) (appointed jointly with the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland). UK-based companies exporting or importing listed chemicals (including to or from EU countries) would need to comply with the requirements of the UK PIC Regulation. Implications Although much of the existing system would continue to apply, there will be changes: UK-based companies would no longer have access to ePIC and would need to use the UK’s new system that would be operated by the HSE (as the PIC DNA) to notify exports of listed chemicals from the UK. New UK procedures for notifying exports will be in place ahead of exit day so that UK businesses will use them for exports leaving the UK after 29th March. The UK PIC Regulation would apply to the export of listed chemicals that are exported from the UK, including to EU countries. Companies that currently only move listed chemicals within the EU single market and do not export them outside the EU would have to start to notify these to HSE (UK DNA) under UK PIC. The intention would be to recognise UK export notifications for 2019 that are already in place when we leave the EU, with no requirement to re-submit the notification for that year (export notifications are only valid in any calendar year). Where the first export in 2019 of the chemical falls after 29 March 2019, UK companies would need to notify these to UK DNA using the new UK system. Where explicit consent has been given by an importing country to another EU country under the current EU PIC arrangements, it may be necessary to seek the consent of that country for UK exports of the chemical after 29 March 2019. Exporters and importers would need to include in the information they submit to the UK DNA in the first quarter of each year, details of the quantities of listed chemicals exported to or imported from EU countries, as well as other countries.