The impact of Brexit on chemical safety
MSDS-Europe – Compass to Chemical Safety – The impact of Brexit on chemical safety
Until Brexit, the United Kingdom, like other EEA Member States, applied EU legislation in the field of chemical safety. However, following Brexit and the end of the transition period (31 December 2020), the UK became independent of the European Union’s chemical safety regulatory system.
What changes does this mean in the field of chemical safety for chemicals imported from or exported to EEA countries?
The impact of Brexit on trade
The UK withdrew from the EU on 31 January 2020. This was followed by a transition period ending on 31 December 2020. Therefore, the new system entered into force on 1 January 2021. This means that trading with the UK became more complex, as the process no longer takes place within the EU internal market.
Among other things, the EU’s harmonised VAT system no longer applies to the UK, customs procedures changed, and, in general, the administrative burden increased.
Thus, if a company is established in the UK or in the EEA and acts as a supplier/user/distributor in UK trade, it should prepare for the following changes.
How to prepare for the changes
First of all, you should define the role of the company in the new system and its relationship with the UK and EEA markets. The UK became a third country for EU countries. Therefore, UK-based users and distributors that procure chemicals/mixtures from the EEA become importers, and this role is completely different from “distributor” status under the REACH Regulation.
For guidance on how to define the roles – which is essential for a basic understanding of REACH requirements – see the ECHA website or read our article ‘REACH obligations of manufacturers and importers’.
The importer/exporter role requires the supplier of the chemical to review its safety data sheet and labelling accordingly.
The CLP, BPR and PIC Regulations were replaced by national legislation in the UK. Consequently, this requires the ongoing monitoring of both EU and UK legislation, as well as the implementation of changes resulting from differences between them.
However, there was no need to prepare for radical changes immediately, since the UK initially retained most of the legislation with minor amendments so that it could function effectively in a national context. For example, the CLP Regulation was replaced by the GB CLP Regulation, and the EU REACH Regulation by the UK REACH Regulation.
Now let’s examine the changes that can be expected in the most important chemical safety regulations.
Changes in basic chemical safety requirements
UK REACH
In the case of the UK REACH Regulation, the main principles are maintained (no data, no market; minimisation of animal testing; access to information for workers; precautionary principle, etc.). However, UK REACH and EU REACH operate independently.
If a company supplies or buys a chemical in both the EEA and the United Kingdom, it has to comply with two separate legal regimes.
Guidance on how to comply with UK REACH can be found at this up-to-date link.
For help and further information, contact the national authority (HSE – the Health and Safety Executive, the UK’s national regulator for workplace health and safety).
Biocides
The UK also retained the Biocidal Products Regulation (BPR) framework with minor amendments.
If you want to apply for the approval of an active substance or the authorisation of a biocidal product in the UK, you have to contact HSE instead of ECHA. HSE has taken over functions previously performed by ECHA, but it applies its own procedures to process submitted applications.
What happens if we already have a valid biocidal product authorisation in the UK?
Previously granted biocidal product authorisations remain valid until their expiry date.
However, the authorisation holder had to be established in the UK within one year (until 1 January 2022). The approval of an active substance also remains valid until the normal expiry date, but the information originally submitted to the authority must also be submitted to HSE.
What happens if our application is currently being processed?
HSE continues the process for granting a national authorisation; however, the information supporting the original application must be re-submitted.
The UK version of the list of approved active substance suppliers (Article 95 list) was also established based on the EU list in force at the end of the transition period.
Therefore, if a company was on the EU list, it was automatically added to the UK list as well, but to remain on it, additional information had to be submitted to HSE. A two-year period was provided to meet the requirements.
The Prior Informed Consent Regulation (PIC)
The Prior Informed Consent Regulation (PIC Regulation, Regulation (EU) No 649/2012) regulates the import and export of certain hazardous chemicals and imposes obligations on companies wishing to export these chemicals to non-EU countries.
After the transition period, the EU PIC Regulation no longer applied to companies established in the UK; consequently, there was no longer an obligation under EU law for them to report export/import data.
Important!
You should check with HSE whether you have a reporting obligation under the new national legislation.
On the other hand, the EU PIC Regulation remains in force for companies established in the EU, so if a chemical subject to PIC is exported to or imported from the UK, it still has to be reported under the applicable EU rules.
What does not change with Brexit
The EU CLP Regulation was replaced by the GB CLP Regulation, but it still follows the UN Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (UN GHS). Therefore, companies established in the UK remain responsible for the classification, labelling and packaging of chemicals placed on the market under the GB CLP Regulation. Likewise, there is no change in the requirements concerning when labelling is required under the GB CLP Regulation (in addition to transport markings), and the packaging requirements also remain essentially the same.
Furthermore, suppliers established in the UK remain responsible for the identification (classification), testing and evaluation of the potential physical, health and environmental hazards of chemicals.
Summary of the impact of Brexit
Based on the available official information, the transition was expected to be efficient and relatively smooth, since the UK initially retained most of the legislation with the above-mentioned minor changes. In addition, a transition period was provided for companies to meet all requirements.
However, companies should review their situation under both legal regimes and take the necessary additional steps (e.g. submitting information to HSE). Finally, in case of questions concerning the United Kingdom, companies can turn to HSE (the UK national authority) instead of ECHA.
Free online consultation
If you have not found the information you needed on our website, just ask your questions regarding safety data sheets directly from our expert.
To send questions, please use the following message form: