The British Coatings Federation (BCF), the industry association for paint, printing inks and wallcoverings, has pressed for the government to fully understand the requirement for regulations alignment on chemicals to meet those of the EU. There are also concerns over duplicating EU REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals) Regulations.
Talking to the Financial Times in a recent interview, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, addressing future trading agreements with the EU, said: “There will not be alignment, we will not be a rule taker, we will not be in the single market and we will not be in the customs union – and we will do this by the end of the year.”
The response of BCF CEO, Tom Bowtell, in a BCF press release : “We were disappointed that the current government’s version of the Withdrawal Agreement removed some of the commitments to regulatory alignment for chemicals that were in the previous Theresa May deal.”
The possibility of regulatory divergence raises many concerns in the industry, not only in the duplication of regulations, but the added costs and extra bureaucracy this would bring.
The EU REACH regulations are set to provide health and safety guidelines, and to protect human health and the environment from the use of chemicals. It assigns responsibility of the associated risks to those manufacturing and marketing the chemicals.
REACH applies to substances manufactured or imported into the EU in quantities of 1 tonne or more per year. The UK REACH regulations keep many of the key guidelines.
“We need government to understand the complexity of the integrated chemicals supply chain and come up with an appropriate free trade deal to prevent – or at least minimise – substantially added costs or disruption to our members.” added Tom Bowtell
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