Environmental Audit Committee Report

The House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee has published its report into the Future of Chemicals Regulation following the planned exit of the UK from the EU.  RPA’s Meg Postle was specialist adviser to the Committee.

The key findings of the report are:

• The chemicals regulation framework established by the EU through REACH would be difficult to transpose directly into UK law;
• Companies face significant uncertainty over the validity of current REACH registrations after the UK leaves the EU: the Government must clarify their position on the future regulatory framework as a matter of urgency;
• In deciding the future of the UK’s relationship with the EU’s single market for chemicals, the Government should take a pragmatic approach. The most important element of REACH, which the Government should seek to remain involved in as a minimum, is the registration process for chemicals;
• Establishing a fully stand-alone system of chemicals regulation for the UK is likely to be expensive for both the taxpayer and for industry; and
• The experiences of the US as it introduces an improved system of chemicals regulation could be useful for the Government when planning the UK’s approach