ECHA: Companies Should Prepare for "No Deal" Scenario Ahead of Brexit

The European Chemicals Agency, ECHA, is urging companies to prepare for a “no deal” scenario ahead of the United Kingdom’s upcoming withdrawal from the European Union, an action often referred to as “Brexit.” The U.K. is set to leave the EU at the end of March 2019, following a June 2016 referendum in which U.K. constituents voted to withdraw from the EU. A no-deal scenario would mean that the U.K. would leave the EU immediately at the end of March with no withdrawal agreement in place regarding the future relationship between the U.K. and the EU. Continued political uncertainty regarding the withdrawal agreement means that a no-deal scenario remains a possibility. New instructions published on ECHA’s website are intended to help companies that are placing chemical substances onto the markets of the EU and European Economic Area prepare for Brexit.

ECHA recommends that companies act now to stay on the EU market after Brexit by continuing to comply with their obligations under the EU’s Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) regulation, which requires companies to identify and manage the risks linked to the substances they manufacture and market in the EU; the EU regulation on the classification, labelling, and packaging of substances and mixtures, or CLP; the Biocidal Products Regulation, or BPR; and PIC, the EU regulation concerning the export and import of hazardous chemicals.

Further details are available in ECHA’s press release​, which includes links to resources such as information on Brexit, how to transfer U.K. REACH registrations prior to Brexit, and a list of substances registered only by U.K. companies.