Q&A info

The IE/NI Protocol provides that REACH, CLP, BPR and PIC regulations apply to and in the United Kingdom in respect of Northern Ireland. Thus, companies located in Northern Ireland continue to have access to REACH-IT, R4BP, ECHA Submission portal and ePIC for most processes.

Northern Ireland companies with an existing account in these tools associated with the former “UK” entity are required to create new accounts associated to the new entity “UK (NI)”.

With regard to poison centres notifications, companies established in Northern Ireland can use the ECHA Submission portal to notify mixtures to be placed on the EU market, but not for those placed on the Northern Ireland market. The United Kingdom national system has to be used for such purpose.

For applications for national authorisations of biocidal products (Article 29 of the BPR), for simplified authorisations (Article 26 of the BPR) and applications for mutual recognition (Chapter VII of the BPR), the UK(NI) companies need to use the United Kingdom national system to make their applications. For other BPR processes, for example applications for active substance, R4BP 3 can be used.

The IE/NI Protocol provides that REACH applies to and in the United Kingdom in respect of Northern Ireland. REACH does not apply in other parts of the United Kingdom.

On a practical level, this means that:

• substances manufactured in or imported to Northern Ireland need to be registered with ECHA, including substances imported from United Kingdom to Northern Ireland;
• substances shipped from Northern Ireland to the EU/EEA are not considered ‘imported’ from the registration perspective; 
• an Only Representative based in Northern Ireland is considered equal to an Only Representative in the EU/EEA;
• a manufacturer, formulator or an article producer in Northern Ireland cannot appoint an only representative;
• authorisation obligations apply to Annex XIV substances placed on the market for a use or used in Northern Ireland, including substances imported from United Kingdom to Northern Ireland.

• substances and mixtures placed on the market in Northern Ireland must be classified, labelled and packaged according to the CLP Regulation;
• such classification and labelling elements must be notified to the C&L Inventory;
• companies located in Northern Ireland need to follow the scientific and technical developments in relation to the substances and mixtures they place on the market, and update classification and labelling accordingly;
• if a company in Northern Ireland holds information leading to a change in harmonised classification, they need to submit a change proposal to the Competent Authority in one of the EU Member States in which the substance is placed on the market. The UK(NI) Authority cannot act in this role, so the company needs to contact a Competent Authority in an EU Member State. 
• importers and downstream users placing mixtures on the market in Northern Ireland must provide information on emergency health response to the UK/NI Appointed body and include a UFI on the label. EU/EEA companies placing on the market hazardous mixtures supplied by companies established in NI, without performing any activity qualifying as use, will remain distributors with no direct notification obligations under Article 45. However, distributors (e.g. re-branders) must make sure to only place CLP compliant products on the market and ensure that all product identifiers (in particular trade/brand names) and UFIs under which the mixture is placed on the market are covered by a submission to the relevant appointed body in the EU/EEA (Activities leading to submission obligations according to Article 4(10)).

Yes, if they intend to place those mixtures on the EU/EEA market, or Northern Ireland. CLP applies to and in the United Kingdom in respect of Northern Ireland.

Companies established in Northern Ireland can use the ECHA Submission portal to notify mixtures to be placed on the EU/EEA market. However, when placing mixtures on the Northern Ireland market the United Kingdom national system has to be used instead.

CLP does not apply in other parts of the United Kingdom. Therefore, the obligations under Article 45 and Annex VIII do not apply to companies based in Northern Ireland if they intend to place a hazardous mixture on the market of the United Kingdom, except for Northern Ireland.

No, shipments of treated articles or biocidal products authorised in accordance with the BPR from Northern Ireland to the EU/EEA are not considered as imports to the EU/EEA.

It is not possible to submit such an application via R4BP 3. For applications for national authorisations of biocidal products (Article 29 of the BPR), for simplified authorisations (Article 26 of the BPR) and applications in accordance with Chapter VII (mutual recognition procedures) of the BPR, the Northern Ireland companies need to apply through the national system of United Kingdom to make their applications. 

We suggest the applicant to contact the United Kingdom authority in respect to Northern Ireland to obtain further information on how to practically proceed with the submission.

• shipments of chemicals between Northern Ireland and the EU are not considered as imports or exports, and therefore the PIC Regulation does not apply to such shipments;
• shipments of chemicals between Northern Ireland and third countries – including United Kingdom after the end of the transition period - are considered as imports or exports and therefore the PIC Regulation applies to such shipments.

• to notify upon the first export of the calendar year for each substance listed in Annex I to the PIC Regulation and each importing country;
• to report during the first quarter of each year, the quantity of each Annex I PIC chemicals exported from, or imported to the EU in the preceding year;
• to package and label the chemicals that are intended for export in accordance with the related provisions established in the CLP, BPR and REACH; in particular, a Safety Data Sheet (SDS) in accordance with the REACH Regulation shall accompany chemicals when exported;
• not to export chemicals and articles as listed in Annex V to the PIC Regulation. 

• the export of chemicals listed in Annex I to Regulation (EU) No 649/2012 from Northern Ireland to the United Kingdom has to comply only with the rules of that Regulation that implement the Convention. For example, the export of a chemical listed in Part 2 of Annex I to Regulation (EU) No 649/2012 from Northern Ireland to Great Britain has to be notified by the exporter but there is no requirement to get the explicit consent of the United Kingdom in respect of Great Britain; 
• the rules on packaging and labelling of chemicals only apply to exports of chemicals from Northern Ireland to the United Kingdom to the extent necessary to comply with Article 13 of the Convention.