UK REACH costs threaten chemicals industry 

UK – The Chemical Industry Association (CIA) has voiced concerns over the high registration fees that would apply under UK REACH in the case of no-deal Brexit.

In particular, the UK chemical and pharma makers’ body believes the costs proposed by the country’s Health & Safety Executive are disproportionate to the UK market size.

This, argues CIA, could deter companies from registering products, leading to the removal of substances that are essential for UK manufacturers and consumers from the market.

In a detailed analysis issued in January, the London-based association estimated that registration under the UK REACH would cost industry around €1.1 billion.

The figure is around double CIA’s 2018 cost-estimate of €510 million. This included €330 million for re-registration with the chemical-safety legislation and €165 million for the export of UK registered substances to the EU.

At the time, CIA did not quote estimates of additional costs for new registrations that UK importers may be subject to, as their raw materials were already registered by EU27 suppliers.

The association now expects an extra €770 million cost of registration for formulators in downstream industries as their products will not be listed under the UK REACH.

The UK government introduced the UK REACH legislation in 2018 to replace the EU REACH should the country depart the EU without a deal.

The UK officially exited the European bloc at the end of January 2020 and has until the end of this year to negotiate a trade deal with the EU.

Talks between the two sides have since been hampered by the Covid-19 pandemic – making the default option of a no-deal Brexit on 1 Jan 2021 a much more likely outcome.