Then a corresponding British law comes into force: UK-REACH. Companies that trade in chemicals across borders need to quickly adapt to the new rules, according to engineering consultant DEKRA.
The British government has issued the “REACH etc. (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019” (UK-REACH), which is to come into force on 1st January 2021. It is largely congruent with EU REACH but limited to Great Britain. EU REACH registrations are no longer valid in the UK. However, in Northern Ireland EU regulations and EU REACH continue to apply.
DEKRA continues: on one hand, this affects companies in Great Britain that are cut off from their EU supply chain and no longer have an EU REACH registration for export to the EU. On the other hand, companies in the EU are affected and no longer have direct access to the UK market or are cut off from their UK suppliers. The UK REACH contains two regulations for British companies:
-Manufacturers who have their own EU REACH registration are allocated a UK-REACH registration via the so-called “grandfathering”, they must submit a basic registration before the 30 April 2021
-Downstream users who purchase their products from the EU can receive transition periods of 2-6 years via a “DUIN” notification before they have to submit a UK REACH registration; the DUIN must be made before 27 October 2021.
In both cases, the company will have to submit a complete registration dossier before the end of the transition period. The length of the transition period (2, 4 or 6 years) depends on the annual volume of the substance and the hazard properties.
There are no regulations in UK REACH for EU companies that want to continue to supply the UK market. They have the option of engaging a British Only Representative that takes care of the DUIN notification for the recipient and thus protects existing supply relationships. In this way, the supplier does not have to disclose the composition of products to customers. However, the acquisition of new customers is only possible after a full UK REACH registration has been completed.
DEKRA has chemical laboratories in the UK, Germany and China and will be supporting companies with the new requirements of grandfathering and DUIN notification.