101 UK Brexit Notes

Connemara Programme October 16 2018 pg. 85 Business: Regulating Chemicals (REACH) Purpose This notice sets out how businesses producing, registering, importing or exporting chemicals would be affected if the UK leaves the EU in March 2019 with no deal. Before 29 March 2019 There is a large body of existing EU law relating to chemicals which protect human health and the environment, as well as enabling products to be placed on the market. The UK chemicals industry is regulated through a framework largely based on EU legislation. The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) is the lead body in implementing this framework. The main piece of legislation is REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals). REACH requires EU companies to register chemicals with ECHA before placing them on the market and puts in place additional regulatory controls on hazardous chemicals. Companies producing and exporting chemicals from outside the European Economic Area (EEA) must comply with REACH by ensuring the EEA-based importer they supply fulfils the requirements of the regulation or procuring the services of an Only Representative (OR). An OR is based in the EEA and acts as an agent to carry out the tasks and responsibilities of importers to comply with REACH. This can simplify access to the EEA market for products from companies outside the EEA, secure the supply and reduce responsibilities for importers. After March 2019 if there’s no deal In the unlikely event of a no deal, the UK 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. By doing this the UK would continue to be able to monitor and evaluate chemicals in the UK to reduce the risk posed to human health and the environment. It would also minimise disruption to the supply in chemicals. Existing standards of protection of human health and the environment would be maintained. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) would act as the lead UK regulatory authority, from the day the UK leaves the EU, building on its existing capacity and capability. The new regulatory framework would: enable the registration of new chemicals through a UK IT system that is similar to the existing EU IT system; provide specialist capacity to evaluate the impact of chemicals on health and the environment; ensure sufficient regulatory and enforcement capacity in the HSE, the Environment Agency (EA) and other regulators, enabling them to recommend controls in response to the hazards and risks of substances; and provide for an appropriate policy function in Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) and the devolved administrations. In a ‘no deal’ scenario the UK would not be legally committed to medium- or long-term regulatory alignment with the EEA. Implications In the unlikely event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal, this would mean:  Companies registered with REACH would no longer be able to sell into the EEA market without transferring their registrations to an EEA-based organisation. Companies would therefore need to take action to preserve their EEA market access.  UK downstream users currently importing chemicals from an EEA country would face new registration requirements. Under the UK’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. Ensuring continued access to the UK market and maintaining existing standards of protection for human health and the environment The approach set out below is designed to maximise continuity in as light a touch way as possible, consistent with the requirements of REACH that are being brought into UK law through the EU Withdrawal Act. It provides a transition period before full obligations would fall on the importers who would otherwise be most affected. To ensure continuity for business we would:  Carry across existing REACH registrations held by UK-based companies directly into the UK’s replacement for REACH, legally ‘grandfathering’ the registrations into the UK regime.  Set up a transitional light-touch notification process for UK companies importing chemicals from the EEA before the UK leaves the EU that don’t hold a REACH registration. This would reduce the risk of interruption in supply chains for companies currently relying on a registration held by an EEA-based company. This would mean that those UK companies could continue to buy those chemicals from the EEA without any break.  Carry into the UK system all existing authorisations to continue using higher-risk chemicals held by UK companies.