ChemRegs Newsletter – January 2017
REACH after Brexit
[The content of this article contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0]
The UK Parliamentary Environmental Audit Committee is launching a second inquiry into the future of environmental law and policy and chemicals regulation following the result of the EU Referendum. It will focus on the future of the European Regulation on Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) and will consider the possible impacts on environmental protection, public safety and the UK chemicals industry.
The Committee are asking for feedback from the UK chemical industry but you need to be quick! The call for submissions is on a tight timescale with a deadline of 20 January 2017 (by 6pm). This is so the Committee can inform government thinking in a timely way.
The EU has adopted several pieces of legislation on chemicals, which are primarily ‘trade regulations’ harmonising the conditions under which chemicals can be placed on the market. The aim of REACH is to protect human health and the environment. REACH shifts the responsibility from public authorities to industry with regards to assessing and managing the risks posed by chemicals and providing appropriate safety information for their users. REACH is constantly evolving, having been amended 38 times since it was enacted in 2006! REACH is enforced by the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) and relatively little of its regulation has been transposed into UK law.
It has been estimated that the chemicals industry is the UK’s largest manufacturing exporter. The industry produces products, which are fundamental to many other sectors of the economy – from energy to clothing, motor manufacturing to agriculture, food standards to children’s toys.
The Prime Minister has said that leaving the EU will involve converting the body of EU law into British law (via a “Great Repeal Bill”). However, the Government has said that up to a third of EU environmental law cannot be simply ‘copy pasted’ into UK law and will require additional work to ensure that the UK maintains the current level of environmental protection. REACH was cited in the evidence to the Future of the Natural Environment inquiry as one of these challenging areas.
The Committee is inviting submissions on some or all of the questions below:
Transposition
- What particular challenges will the UK Government face when it seeks to transpose REACH into UK law through the “Great Repeal Bill”?
- How far will the UK’s ability to effectively transpose REACH depend on negotiations with other Member States and the nature of the UK’s future relationship with the EU (e.g. Single Market membership)?
- What role should the devolved administrations play in setting the regulatory environment in this area? How should any divergences in policy be managed?
Administrative, Policy and Regulatory Implications
- How should administrative and enforcement responsibilities, which are currently being carried out by the European Commission or EU Agencies (such as ECHA), be transferred to domestic bodies?
- What are the likely implications for industry in terms of regulation, environmental and safety standards?
- Does the UK Government have the requisite expertise and resources to take on these tasks?
Future of Chemical Industry
- What scope is there for the UK to pursue a divergent approach to chemicals regulation from the EU once the process of leaving has been completed?
- What principles should a UK chemicals regulation regime follow?
- What are the likely practical implications of having a UK-only chemicals regulatory policy for:
- The Environment?
- Public Safety?
- UK Industry
- What key features should any new regime have to ensure these are not compromised?
The deadline for submissions by 6 pm on Friday 20 January 2017. The word limit is 3,000 words. Later submissions will be accepted, but may be too late to inform the first oral evidence hearing. Written submissions can be sent using the form on the inquiry page.
The Committee values diversity and seeks to ensure this where possible. They are encouraging members of underrepresented groups to submit written evidence. They also aim to have diverse panels of Select Committee witnesses and ask organisations to bear this in mind if asked to appear.
Further information including the questions that the Committee are seeking evidence on and a link to the form used for sending in your written submissions are available on the UK Parliament website:
For more information, please contact us at info@chemregs.co.uk
Other News
SAFETY DATA SHEETS
Enforcement authorities in the EU are to inspect how safety information on hazardous chemicals is compiled, communicated in the supply chain and followed at workplaces.
The key element of the project will be to investigate the quality of the safety data sheets that contain guidelines on the safe use of hazardous substances i.e. those that have exposure scenarios attached (extended safety data sheets). An exposure scenario describes the amount and character of exposure to its hazards when a substance is manufactured or used for its destined purposes. It also advises how the exposure of humans and release to the environment can be controlled.
Inspectors will check if the extended safety data sheets match the information established by the chemical safety reports (CSRs) that substance manufacturers prepare. They will also go through the exposure scenarios attached to the safety data sheets.
One of the objectives of this enforcement project is to ensure that workers handling hazardous chemicals, especially those dealing with substances of very high concern, receive sufficient and correct safety information. The project will also map how effectively extended safety data sheets are passed on and communicated all the way through the supply chain, i.e. from manufacturers of chemicals to the users.
Inspectors will furthermore check whether workers actually respect the safety information at their workplaces. Inspectors from national enforcement authorities will collaborate with labour inspectors to assess if the recommended operational conditions and risk management measures are fulfilled.
The REF-5 project was adopted by ECHA’s Forum for Exchange of Information on Enforcement at the end of 2015. The first inspections will take place in January 2017, and the activity will continue throughout the year. A report on the results of the inspections will be available in the fourth quarter of 2018.
The project will be the first joint EU enforcement project that aims to improve communication, through safety data sheets, throughout the supply chain.
ADR 2017
The online version of the 2017 edition of ADR has now been published on the UNECE website. It is available from the following link: http://www.unece.org/trans/danger/publi/adr/adr2017/17contentse0.html
For more information, please contact us at info@chemregs.co.uk