While much has been made of the issues that UK-based businesses could face if the UK leaves the EU without a deal, including a shortage of certain chemicals that are vital to a number of industries, little has been said about those trading the other way.
However, UK chemical producers are also important to businesses in the EU and Chemical Watch recently highlighted the recommendations being made by Ueapme, the EU trade body for small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
Ueapme noted that many SMEs are reliant on UK companies as suppliers or only representatives (ORs). As a result, the organisation has made a series of recommendations to ensure continuity for businesses.
Among them are looking at the options for relocating UK ORs to other member states, as well as organising a transitional period of either three or five years depending on whether the downstream user currently being supplied by a UK OR will need to register a substance on their own or apply for authorisation for a substance on their own.
This approach will naturally have a knock-on effect on UK businesses that are involved in this sector.
The suggestions from Ueapme come after chancellor Philip Hammond suggested that the UK’s chemicals sector would be one of the industries to be hurt most deeply by a no-deal Brexit.
Toll processing firms and others operating in the sector will no doubt be concerned at the possibility of a no-deal scenario, although the government has stressed that it believes there is a good chance of the UK securing a deal before the March deadline.