Crop protection after Brexit
There is a new regulatory regime for plant production products in post-Brexit Britain . We report from the BCPC Congress 2020
Not surprisingly , Brexit was high
on the agenda of last year ’ s British Crop Protection Council ( BCPC ) Congress , which took place virtually . Among the speakers were many from the Chemicals Regulation Division of the Health & Safety Executive ( HSE ), which remains the national regulator for the whole UK , on behalf of the UK government and the devolved administrations of Scotland , Wales and Northern Ireland . At the time of the congress , the form that the UK ' s ' departure from the EU would take was still far from clear . Since then , with the transition period completed on 31 December 2020 and an outline trade deal agreed , much of what they said provisionally is now more certain . After Brexit , said Dr Christine Snaith , head of PPPs , Great Britain
( GB ) – i . e . England , Scotland and Wales – will operate an independent pesticides regulatory regime . It will no longer have a formal role in EU decision-making processes and new EU decisions on active substances ( ASs ) and maximum residue level ( MRLs ), and new EU plant protection product ( PPP ) legislation , will no longer apply . However , noted Darren Flynn , head of AS delivery , the existing EU legislative framework will be retained in national law . This includes Regulations 1107 / 2009 on PPPs and 396 / 2005 on MRLs , among others . Each retained regulation is published at legislation . gov . uk to , with details of all the changes made under EU Exit Statutory Instruments . Northern Ireland ( NI ) is different to GB . Under the protocol agreed between the EU and the UK , EU regulations will continue to apply directly here . New authorisations and amendments will therefore need to be considered under the GB and EU regimes to gain access to both GB and NI / EU markets .
ASs
For ASs , all existing approvals remain and are included in the new Active Substance Register , which is also on the HSE website . An AS must be approved in GB before it can be included in any PPP that is authorised for use in GB . Those that expire within three years of 31 December 2020 will be extended for three more . Under the new regime , GB will make its own decisions on AS approvals , based on its own assessments and new decisions by the EU will not apply here . Applications for new ASs must now be made to the HSE . The documentation supporting them will remain the same , however , and they will be accepted in the same way . The agency aims to reach decisions more quickly than in the EU , usually within two years of submission . GB is also developing a new programme for the review and renewal of ASs , Flynn continued . The HSE retains the power to review approvals at any time , should new ‣
Northern Ireland remains under certain EU laws as part of the Brexit agreement
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