If you make, import, sell or distribute chemical substances or mixtures in the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, and Wales), you must meet UK REACH regulations. The United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union on January 31, 2020. The United Kingdom has been in an 11-month transition phase during which it would adhere to EU guidelines.

Now, on January 1, 2021, the EU REACH Regulation will become law in the United Kingdom. This is referred to as UK REACH. If your company supplies or purchases substances, mixtures, or articles from the UK or the EU, you must ensure that you comply with the applicable REACH obligations in both the UK and the EU.

• • The European Union (EU)
• • The Economic Area of Europe (EEA)
• • Northern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom of (NI)
• • Great Britain (GB) (England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland)

Registration & Notification of Substances in Articles

In the event of a UK import, any manufacturer or importer of items must inform the HSE if the following conditions are met,

• SVHC is present in those papers in amounts exceeding 1 tonne per producer or importer per year.

• An SVHC was found in those papers at a concentration of more than 0.1 percent by weight.

Recognizing your EU REACH registrations under UK REACH

Existing EU REACH registrants from UK-based businesses will be automatically transferred to UK REACH under a process known as Grandfathering, which will necessitate a notification by the end of April 2021. Grandfathering helps you to continue selling in the United Kingdom; however, there are some measures you must take to comply with UK REACH.

The Agency will not charge you a fee for grandfathering your registration.

UK REACH SVHC Candidate list (209)

• https://www.hse.gov.uk/reach/candidate-list.xlsx

EU reach has the additional 2 substances ( So a total of 211)

• Bis(2-(2-methoxyethoxy)ethyl)ether - 143-24-8

• Dioctyltin dilaurate, stannane, dioctyl-, bis(coco acyloxy) derivs., and any other stannane, dioctyl-, bis(fatty acyloxy) derivs. wherein C12 is the predominant carbon number of the fatty acyloxy moiety

Restrictions list - 71 is the substance group & 74 is the total substance (UK REACH as per 30th March 2021)

• https://www.hse.gov.uk/reach/list-of-restrictions.xlsx

Annex XIV of UK REACH ("Authorisation List") (97 substances)

• https://www.hse.gov.uk/reach/authorisation-list-annex-xiv.xlsx

To use the service, you'll need to build a Government Gateway account. Learn how to sign up for the Comply with UK REACH service as a company or organization. This guide will show you how to set up and label your accounts. If you work on behalf of other legal entities, such as as an Only Representative (OR), you'll need to create a "parent" account for yourself and "Child" accounts for the entities you serve after you sign up for the service.

A downstream user Import notification (DUIN) must be sent before October 27th, 2021 to continue importing EU-registered substances into the UK.

What exactly are DUINs?

DUINs may be submitted by importers based in the United Kingdom (previously known as downstream users under EU REACH). It doesn't matter whether you were previously imported from the EU or from outside the EU through an EU REACH-only representative. Timelines for requesting a new registration have been postponed. The project must be finished by October 27th, 2021.

What does it mean to be an Only Representative (OR)?

By mutual agreement, a person established outside the UK who manufactures a substance on its own, in mixtures, or articles, formulates a mixture, or produces an article that is imported into the UK may appoint a person established in the UK to fulfill his obligations to the UK consumer or distributor as his sole representative.  As a result, the DUIN (Downstream User Import Notification) is submitted on behalf of the importing consumers by the GB-based OR.

The Advantages of Using a One-On-One Representative: 

• Customers are relieved of administrative pressures

• Protects your confidential product information

• Maintains existing supply chains.

• Ensures that you continue to have access to the UK market (rather than depending on customers)

• A competent OR may also be a reliable source of help and guidance.

• Compliance on an ongoing basis

SVHC in the United Kingdom – Notification and Obligations 

Notification submissions are free of charge. To be submitted to HSE using the ‘Comply with UK REACH' template. Each of the following parties is in control of the IT system, they are

• Producer from the United Kingdom

• Importer for Great Britain

• GB only representative on behalf of a non-GB company

The following information is needed for a notification:

• Identify the GB producer/importer and provide contact information

• If available, registration numbers

• Identity of Substance

• Scope of tonnage

UK REACH announced on March 23rd that lead ammunition, PFAS, and other toxic chemical substances will be limited

• The government of the United Kingdom is considering banning lead bullets, PFAS, and other toxic substances from tattoo inks and permanent make-up.

• Chemical substances can be used to protect human health, biodiversity, and the environment as part of current UK REACH plans.

• Lead ammunition is been used in the shooting industry.

APA Engineering helps companies to manage their REACh Compliance Solution on EU REACh, UK REACh, India REACh, and others. To learn more about REACh regulation on its annexes, REACh software solution, and other product compliance solutions, reach out to [email protected]