The British coatings industry has raised concerns about the lack of clarity on how a UK REACH Regulation would work alongside the EU's under a hard Brexit scenario.

In particular doubt is the registration procedure, Ellen Daniels, head of public affairs and policy at the British Coatings Federation, told Chemical Watch.

Her comments come a month after the UK government published guidance on REACH in the event that Britain leaves the EU on 29 March 2019 without a trade deal.

To decide whether they fall under the thresholds for registration, coatings manufacturing companies in the UK are likely to have to obtain tonnage data from EU suppliers in order to supply products to UK customers, she said.

"But they will need separate tonnage data if they export paint or ink to EU customers." It will be "very complicated" to maintain a separate inventory of raw materials and finished products for UK customers and EU market, as well as sales to other countries, she added.

'Full' data package

At a recent Health and Safety Executive workshop, the UK's Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said companies will need to submit a "full" data package in order to register their chemicals under a UK version of REACH in a no-deal Brexit scenario.

The BCF said it would question having such a UK requirement, "bearing in mind the amount of time and resource" Echa has dedicated to establishing information required to do appropriate evaluation stages in the REACH process.

Ms Daniels pointed out that the UK may be approximately 10% of the EU's economy, but the number of chemical substances used by UK companies "will in all likelihood" exceed 85-90% of the existing REACH-registered substances.

The majority of chemicals used in the UK coatings industry's products come from outside the country, Ms Daniels said. It is not clear, she added, whether these suppliers will see it as a sound economic decision to register small volumes in the UK, as well as in the EU. "We are already hearing of companies delaying their investment in the UK until they are more aware of the future requirements."

One of the main issues, she continued, is identification of lead registrants and information access or provision. "It is such a complex supply chain that it will take more than just a few weeks or months for coating and ink manufacturers to go through their databases to ensure that all raw materials have been covered in the new UK REACH system.

"As virtually all of our materials are chemical intermediates or mixtures we are going to need full and prompt cooperation of our suppliers to do the checks and to ensure that the necessary data packages are in place."

The data package required by the UK must not differ from that required under REACH, she added. "Even if it is identical, it will still lead to duplicated effort with additional resource needed. We assume that there will be additional costs associated with UK registration. These all make the UK a less-desirable place to do business in."

Additionally, she said the BCF is keen to know if the government has considered the commercial viability of registering new substances for the UK market only.

"The 1-10 tonne category was a barrier for some registrations for the total of the EU market, so this may well mean smaller volume new raw materials may be viable in the EU, but not the UK." This, she said, will affect innovation and the competitiveness of UK formulators.