The chairman of the Chemical Business Association (CBA) Darren Budd has stated that the sector is experiencing a “perfect storm” in terms of the business and economic conditions it’s facing at the moment, or that are anticipated in the coming months.
Mr Budd issued a message after his speech at the CBA’s annual lunch was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
In his statement, he commented: “We have the immediate reality of the Covid-19 pandemic and waiting in the wings we have the prospect of further Brexit uncertainties.”
He stressed that the CBA is continuing its calls on the government to ensure close regulatory alignment with the EU when the transition period for the UK to leave the union comes to an end. “Frictionless trade” with the EU is, he says, absolutely essential for the country’s chemical sector.
In fact, some 60 per cent of the UK’s chemical exports go to the EU, while companies in the UK source 70 per cent of their chemical imports from businesses in the European bloc.
Because the government has failed to agree that it will legally ensure that UK chemical firms comply with EU regulation, the CBA has made a number of recommendations to its members.
They include either using an existing EU subsidiary, or creating an EU-based subsidiary, and transfering all EU Reach registrations to the subsidiary, establishing a partnership with an EU-based company, or supporting the CBA’s plan to “create or contract with a collective One Representative entity for the EU for member companies”.
Earlier in April, the Chemical Industries Association (CIA) issued a plea to the British government to let its members help support the nation’s efforts to combat the Covid-19 pandemic by helping workers in the chemicals and pharmaceuticals sectors to continue their work, British Plastics reported.
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