Brexit and Chemicals Regulation

Key Topics

  • Maintaining market access to the United Kingdom
  • Brexit implications on the supply chain
  • Timelines and requirements for registrations
  • Data sharing
  • How the roles of Only Representatives are affected

 

Content of Course

The transition period for the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union will end on 31 December 2020. Although negotiations have not yet been completed as of today a hard Brexit is the most likely outcome. However, the United Kingdom’s authorities state: “At the end of the Transition Period the EU REACH Regulation will be brought into UK law under the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. REACH, and related legislation, will be replicated in the UK with the necessary changes to make it operable in context. The key principles of the EU REACH Regulation will be retained. The independent chemical regulatory framework that will operate in the UK from the 1 January 2021, will be known as UK REACH.”

Any set of circumstances requires intensive preparation. The chemicals regulations arena is not immune from this given the close interconnection of different supply chains across the EU member states and the UK. Whatever the outcome of future negotiations, companies from the EU will then no longer have unlimited “regulatory free” access to the United Kingdom’s market and vice versa. This implies that there will be a potentially disrupting impact on supply chains for manufacturers, downstream users, and article producers unless adequate preparation and action is undertaken.

The workshop will discuss the consequences on companies according to the roles companies may find themselves in, and it will also show how to drive precautionary measures for Brexit related challenges.
 

Course Leader

Peter Douben
REACHwise

Peter Douben is Director of REACHWise, a London based consultancy aimed at assisting companies with their implementation of REACH, CLP and associated legal duties.
REACHWise has a range of clients in different sectors of industry, and their role under REACH ranges from manufacturers of both existing and totally new substances, importers as well as downstream users. It is involved in SIEFs and consortia, and carries out Chemical Safety Assessments and prepares CSRs with Exposure Scenarios for companies. With the progressive implementation of GHS, many companies turn to REACHWise for support to obtain compliant Safety Data Sheets in different languages for different markets.

Before REACHWise, Peter was Head of Environmental Protection in Unilever and served on many industry bodies in Europe and North America. Then he was Director REACH/Chemicals Policy in Cefic, the European Chemical Industry Council, during which he was responsible for the implementation of REACH. He has a University degree from the University of Wageningen, The Netherlands, and a PhD in ecotoxicology, based on a collaboration between Wageningen University and the Natural Environment Research Council, funded by the EEC, the forerunner of the EU, with additional financial support from the British Council.

Peter has contributed to many conferences including some organised by Chem-Academy and has given a number of highly successful trainings and workshops.