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New web pages to prepare companies for UK’s withdrawal from EU
ECHA/NR/18/63
The UK’s withdrawal from the EU will affect companies including those that manufacture or use chemicals in the UK as well as in the EU-27. ECHA’s updated web section aims to help affected companies who have registered substances or use authorised chemicals in supply chains.
Helsinki, 14 November2018 – The UK is withdrawing from the EU at the end of March 2019. How the withdrawal will affect companies depends on their role in the supply chain. ECHA has published new web pages that guide companies through the consequences and give advice on how to prepare for the withdrawal.
For some companies the withdrawal can have significant consequences. For example, if a company based in the UK registered a substance under REACH, the registration with ECHA will no longer exist after the withdrawal. If a UK manufacturer of chemicals wants to continue doing business in the EU/EEA after the UK’s withdrawal, they can:
- appoint an only representative within the EU-27 to manage registrations; or
- move operations related to the registered substance to a legal entity within the EU.
REACH, CLP, BPR and PIC will no longer apply to UK companies that place chemical substances, mixtures or articles, biocidal products or active substances on the market only in the UK. This is also the case when companies export certain chemicals directly from the UK to non-EU/EEA countries.
The new web section also gives advice to EU-27 downstream users relying on REACH authorisations granted to UK suppliers and many more actors facing changes resulting from the UK withdrawal.
The EU and the UK are working towards a draft Withdrawal Agreement. The agreement still needs to be concluded and ratified by both sides to take effect. This could take until early 2019. If and only when this occurs, companies may benefit from a transition period, which gives them more time to prepare for the effects of the UK’s withdrawal. At the same time, ECHA will also update the support pages for companies .