Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that chemical products can move from the UK to Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland while remaining compliant with the chemical classification, labelling and packaging (CLP) regulatory framework; and if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of adopting a more flexible approach to encourage the concept of dual labelling when developing UK CLP policy.

Under the Classification, Labelling and Packaging Regulation in Great Britain (known as the GB CLP Regulation), the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) acts on behalf of the Government as the Agency.

HSE is considering how to deliver for CLP the requirements outlined in the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill which would facilitate a dual-regulatory regime that gives choice to Northern Ireland businesses and can deal flexibly and durably with any barriers within the UK internal market, alongside robust commitments to protect the EU single market. As part of these considerations HSE will assess the potential impacts of policy decisions on stakeholders but will seek to ensure that the provisions within CLP that protect consumers and workers through clear and easily identifiable labelling are upheld.