As a result of Friday’s Referendum, The United Kingdom (UK) has voted to leave the European Union. The referendum, commonly known now as “Brexit”, will have some consequences when it comes to the compliance with the EU chemicals.
Contractual Arrangements
Many companies that are based within the UK have been very involved in leading the industry efforts to comply with the various obligations within the EU chemicals law, for example, REACH.
Now, because of Brexit, the contractual arrangements between the UK-based companies and other companies must be re-assessed. This is because it is unlikely that companies based within the UK, will be able to continue their role in providing the EU regulatory compliance solutions.
UK Acting as Evaluating Member State
Currently, the UK is acting as an Evaluating Member State Authority under the EU chemicals regime. This means, that any work that is not finished before the formal UK exit date, the work will have to be relocated to other members of the State. The impact of the result will depend on whether the UK negotiates to:
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- Stay in membership with the EEA, like countries such as Iceland and Norway.
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- Bilateral agreement, or
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- Rely on the World Trade Organization membership rights.
It is now important that companies do not wait, and perform the relevant assessments straight away.
For more information, please visit Lexology. Please contact Nexreg for REACH Compliance.