The BPF Responds to DEFRA’s Consultation on UK REACH Alternative Transitional Registration Model (ATRm)

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) opened the much-anticipated consultation on the Alternative Transitional Registration Model (ATRm) under UK REACH which closed on 25th July. The BPF responded to the consultation, using the opportunity to highlight concerns that members have with UK REACH legislation.

UK REACH came into force when the UK left the EU at the end of 2020. EU REACH text was essentially copied and pasted into the UK legislation and therefore, the costs associated with UK REACH (which applies in England, Wales and Scotland) have been estimated to be approximately £2 billion. Companies will need to pay registration fees as well as access to data from EU companies to complete the registration dossiers. There is no guidance on sharing data under EU REACH and companies were able to charge significant fees to gain access to the data or refuse to share it at all.

Furthermore, importers under EU REACH were considered downstream users. However, under UK REACH they now have additional responsibilities, causing significant challenges for companies who have not needed to register substances before.

The ATRm aims to reduce the costs to industry by simplifying the registration process. DEFRA believes costs associated with submitting a registration dossier under UK REACH could be reduced by 70% against current UK REACH baselines.

The ATRm (which only applies to “existing substances”, i.e. substances that have been EU REACH registered by anyone by the time of the UK exit from the EU) recognises that hazards of registered substances have already been identified under EU REACH and repeating the same hazard information concerning the intrinsic properties of a substance would not lead to different hazard conclusions in UK REACH compared to EU REACH.

Now, only hazard classification and labelling information will be needed in the substance registration dossier. The regulator will have the power to ask for further data if required and the classifications that will trigger additional data requests can be found in Article 14(4) of UK REACH, for substances at >10 tonne per year. Study summaries, testing proposals and chemical safety reports (CSR) are no longer needed unless the regulator requests them, reducing costs associated with supplying hazard data. This indicates that risks associated with the substances will be the key regulatory driver, rather than the intrinsic hazard of substances.

To enable UK REACH to be risk based, DEFRA have asked for enhanced use and exposure data in the consultation. There will be a public register of UK REACH certified substances (owned by HSE) which will include hazard, use and exposure information (similar to existing ECHA database). The ATRm approach aims to reduce the need to repeat animal tests that were conducted to meet the information requirements of EU REACH, given the requirement to provide summaries of hazard study reports is removed from registration for all but new substances.

The consultation also outlines changes to the restriction proposal so that only one consultation will be required to restrict substances and the public will now only have three months to comment on proposed restricted substances. 

Summary of the BPF’s response

Whilst the BPF welcomes the reduced hazard requirements outlined in the consultation, concerns have been raised over IP law and whether companies are legally allowed to use data on the ECHA platform. We have asked for legal guidance.

We have highlighted the challenges associated with increased use and exposure requirements. The additional information will be challenging and expensive to obtain, possibly negating the lower costs from reduced hazard data. The BPF also believes the government should offer support for SMEs, many of whom will be registering for the first time.

Given the additional work now proposed in the ATRm consultation, upcoming registration deadlines will be difficult to meet.

Finally, the BPF does not support proposed changes to the restriction process and we have also highlighted in the consultation the issues that UK REACH brings recyclers. 

Next steps

DEFRA has received more than 200 responses to the consultation, from various industries and a broad range of company sizes. There is no requirement for DEFRA to respond to the consultation by a certain time but typically, they aim to respond within a 12-week period. The BPF will keep members updated as we hear more.

A separate consultation on UK REACH fees is also expected soon.

If you have any questions on REACH, please contact Mary Aiken-Wood at the BPF ([email protected]).