Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress the Government has made on negotiations with the EU on maintaining access to the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals regulations after 29 March 2019; and what contingency plans he has made to ensure that a UK chemicals registration scheme would be officially recognised by the EU in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

The Government’s white paper on the future relationship between the UK and the EU proposes a UK-EU free trade area for goods, including chemicals, underpinned by a common rule book. We are seeking participation in ECHA, to ensure UK businesses could continue to register chemical substances directly. This remains part of ongoing negotiations with the EU.

In the event of a no-deal, the EU (Withdrawal) Act will convert existing EU chemicals law, including REACH, into domestic law. This includes the registration of chemicals under a UK REACH system which will replicate the current EU approach. We have published a Technical Notice ‘Regulating Chemicals (REACH) if there’s no Brexit deal’. This sets out the implications for business and transitional measures to minimise disruption and ensure continuity in the event of a no deal. The Technical Notice is available via the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulating-chemicals-reach-if-theres-no-brexit-deal