CBA Urges UK Government to Adopt REACH into National Law

The UK Chemical Business Association says the pragmatic and most cost-effective way forward for chemical policy after Brexit, is for Britain to adopt the REACH, CLP and biocides legislation into UK law "on exactly the same institutional, functional and legislative terms as they are currently operating".

Its position echoes that of the UK's other main chemicals trade body, the Chemical Industries Association, which recently told Chemical Watch it wants the UK to remain as close as possible to REACH in its entirety, "warts and all".

In a recently finalised position paper – partly based on the results of a members survey – the CBA, which primarily represents distributors, says it wants the Brexit negotiations to ensure the UK's continued membership of the single market and customs union, or some arrangement that delivers the same benefits.

Loss of single market membership and the possibility of new tariff (or non-tariff) barriers, it says, would undermine the industry's competitiveness.

All of the large companies responding to the survey backed this position. Less predictably, says the paper, smaller firms – many of which are UK-centric, buying and supplying chemicals only in the UK – also want to retain single market membership, because they "are clearly unwilling to jeopardise future access to profitable markets".

Transition period

The paper – published before prime minister Theresa May's Brexit speech in Florence last Friday – says that should Brexit talks fail to secure this outcome, the UK chemical supply chain would require a "significant" transitional period to adjust to any new trading environment.

In her speech, Mrs May proposed that the UK continue to adopt and abide by all current EU regulatory standards – but only for a transition period of around two years. After that, her government wants to be free to adopt its own standards, where necessary. There would be some form of dispute resolution mechanism created to allow this to happen while maintaining tariff-free trade between the UK and EU. She also ruled out a Norway-style solution – membership of the single market without any say in standards setting.

In response, the EU's chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, said any transition period would "require existing Union regulatory, budgetary, supervisory, judiciary and enforcement instruments and structures to apply".

Asked how the CBA defines a "significant" transition period, CEO Peter Newport (pictured) said two years would be challenging and it would have preferred three years, given the current pace of negotiations.

And after transition?

Given their desire to avoid getting enmeshed in political discussions, both the CBA and the CIA – which represents manufacturers – do not want to be drawn at this stage on what legislative and regulatory solution they would like to see adopted in the UK, after any transition period ends.

"Our members' primary objective is, and has to be, unfettered access to the EU market and in our view at this stage that has to be through the effective transposition of REACH into UK law and acceptance of 100% regulatory equivalence," said Mr Newport. "Once agreement of the Brexit terms is achieved, we would then give a considered response to any post-Brexit proposals that might be tabled by the UK government."

CIA chief executive Steve Elliott said: "The importance of accessing the EU 27 would clearly mean we stick as close as possible to REACH in transition and beyond. And many of our larger members would value the efficiency of compliance with REACH, ensuring access elsewhere due to its high bar. But companies with a trade dependency elsewhere would clearly be interested in any alternative that brings a less costly but equally rigorous compliance regime, but one for the collective CIA membership that doesn't endanger access to the EU market place."

Adopting identical REACH and CLP legislation of its own, and adopting all future EU amendments and changes under those laws would, "broadly speaking" be the best way to ensure mutual recognition of UK and EU chemicals policy standards and registrations, said Mr Newport. But a "small minority" of CBA members argue for a series of risk-based derogations from EU regulations – provisions that would allow substances to be placed on the UK market that would otherwise not comply with EU regulation.

UK chemicals agency

Mr Newport said he would prefer an outcome where his members could continue to deal directly with Echa on things like substance registrations, dossier updates, new mandatory classifications and authorisation applications.

"The cost of creating a UK version of Echa, and the bureaucracy involved, seems pointless and business will dislike duplicate fee payments. Why would we go to the expense of creating a UK intermediary – an unwanted and unnecessary bureaucratic layer."