REGULATION & COMPLIANCE
Patel – Data quality is an issue too
Abrahams - Authorities should scrape EU data
“ That said , the regulatory framework must acknowledge that you can make efforts to supply use and exposure information in the supply chain but you can only do what is possible . Any legislation that imposes requirements above that level is deeply problematic ,” he said .
While the final detail is not known yet , Dancy confirmed , one potential advantage of UK REACH in his view is that it will only require use and exposure information at UK level . On that basis , regulators can be more targeted and specific in their actions and there may be scope for novel solutions to get around the concerns industry has .
From the floor
There was also heated debate among the audience . Janet Greenwood of TT Environmental pointed out that the Chemical Regulatory Self-Help Group had advised the HSE to scrape the ECHA data before Brexit and to adopt the Swiss model of assuming that an EU REACH registration was also valid in the UK .
The government “ completely ignored ” the advice and the consequences are now all too clear . “ However , where we are now is even worse than we thought because we are tying ourselves in knots with double regulations and double sets of restrictions .”
Registrations , Greenwood said , could be simplified by simplifying the designations of chemicals ( such as SVHC ), such that any uses and authorisations go into restrictions . The requirement to register uses , which she saw as an unnecessary level of micromanagement , could be removed . Moreover , it goes against the whole caveat emptor principle by making companies legally responsible for how others use them .
“ We could take UK REACH back to what it was intended to be in the first place , which is to agree a classification on the basis of test data and provide information on substances to people compiling the SDS ,” she argued . The focus should be on increasing the accuracy and validity of the SDS and the label .
Make a wish
Asked for a ‘ wish list ’ to advise policymakers on how to adjust UK REACH to enhance safety , support business and keep EU trade as seamless as possible , Alexander agreed that creating a very different system will impose costs on industry but seeking to minimise them creates a risk of weakening protection . ChemTrust would like to see a system like Switzerland ’ s that can benefit from being aligned with the EU while managing the green transition .
BCF members , said Dempsey , would appreciate a system that recognises the changed profile of companies having to do registrations . They have hitherto not been involved in REACH and do not employ large number of experts , own data or have the skills to do hazard analyses , and will need external help .
Polymers are a particularly thorny issue , since coating manufacturers are often importing them without necessarily knowing what the monomers are . “ They could easily be importing multiple polymers that have the same monomers and unwittingly going over the one tonne threshold ,” she added .
Fees , said Patel , are the same in the UK as the EU-27 when they should really reflect market size . “ That could go quite a way to mitigating costs , no matter what model we end up with .” At a higher level , industry wants certainty and clarity in the UK regulatory programme , not just for existing chemicals but all those in the pipeline to maintain innovation and diversity .
“ After 17 years working on EU and UK REACH , I don ’ t understand how the ‘ publicly available data ’ argument works ,” Abrahams said . “ If it is possible to scrape that data from the ECHA database , we should not place the onus on individual companies but house it centrally , if the UK authorities are confident it can be done . Then they could see what happens next and companies wouldn ’ t be at the front of the firing line .”
Secondly , the extension of registration deadlines is necessary but not sufficient , in Abrahams ’ views . The EU will continue to generate data that will become publicly available and relevant to dossier updates in the UK . This raises questions of how there can ever be a truly independent UK system .
“ My preference is for prioritised approaches to chemical management ,” said Biring . “ Look for the chemicals where there is no data and those with specific hazards and widespread exposures where you need more data to regulate them .
“ We see these approaches being used successfully in other parts of the world , such as Canada , Australia and Japan . We shouldn ’ t have to blindly follow with Europe is doing , especially if we don ’ t have the capacity and the infrastructure to do it .” ●
JUL / AUG 2023 SPECCHEMONLINE . COM
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