As Britain struggles with how it will exit the EU, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) has been preparing Brexit contingency plans for when the UK departs the block. With no clear indication that Britain will remain a member of ECHA after 29 March, and hence covered by EU chemical control law REACH commitments and rights, the agency has been warning chemical companies, including those that supply textile finishing materials, to be ready for disruption. Notably, it has recommended that British paints, coatings and other chemical companies consider transferring or selling their ownership to businesses in remaining EU member states, assuming the UK quits the EU on 29 March.
In its latest guidance to UK and other EU companies ahead of Brexit, the agency has given advice to British companies wanting to continue to supply chemical products to remaining EU customers after that deadline. The first option recommended in a list of three is that British exporters “transfer [their] existing [REACH] registration to an EU-27/EEA [European Economic Area] legal entity, which maintains the manufacturing role…”
This could happen if the UK-based manufacturer “goes through an acquisition or relocation to the EU-27/EEA”, or there is an “intragroup transfer of the whole operations/manufacturing activity…from a UK-based mother company to an EU-27 / EEA-based daughter company”.
The alternatives would be that a UK company finds a company within the remaining EU to operate as its formal REACH representative; or its customers secure their own REACH registration for products and chemicals imported from a UK exporter. For more information see: https://echa.europa.eu/support/qas-support/browse/-/qa/70Qx/view/ids/1542-1541-1540-1539-1538
Meanwhile, ECHA has rolled out a new biocides regulatory application submission tool – R4BP 3 – to aid applications under EU biocidal product controls, which was well as providing enhanced workflows and controls for applications, includes new systems helping manufacturers prepare for Britain’s impeding exit from the EU. For more information see: https://echa.europa.eu/support/dossier-submission-tools/r4bp/biocides-submission-manuals
