The United Kingdom, following the exit from Europe, introduced its REACH Regulation also known as REACH UK.
The UK REACH Regulation regulates the access of substances, mixtures and articles in Great Britain, Scotland and Wales.
From 1 January 2021, the UK REACH and EU REACH regulations operate independently of each other.
Companies that supply and purchase substances, mixtures or articles to and from the EU / EEA / Northern Ireland and Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) will need to ensure that the relevant duties are respected under both pieces of legislation.
Under the Northern Ireland Protocol, the EU REACH Regulation continues to apply to Northern Ireland, while the UK's REACH Regulation will regulate the access of substances to the UK market.
REACH UK is very similar to REACH EU both in terms of the subjects involved and the main obligations.
1. Identify substances to be placed on the UK market above 1 ton / year
2. Check if the substance is already registered in Europe
3. Check if the substance will be placed in the UK for the first time
In Great Britain (GB – England, Scotland and Wales) the legislation which covers the provision of Safety Data Sheets (SDS) is UK REACH. The requirements that govern when an SDS should be provided are essentially the same under UK REACH as EU REACH
Where an SDS is required under UK REACH then the SDS should be UK-REACH compliant. It is the GB supplier who will be responsible for ensuring that the SDS is compliant. Please note that in Section 1.3 of a REACH SDS, the details (name, address, phone number) of the supplier of the SDS must be given. By definition, the supplier of a UK REACH SDS must be a GB-based company. A supplier is defined as any manufacturer, importer, downstream user, distributor placing on the market a substance, on its own or in a mixture.
The requirements of GB CLP are essentially the same under EU CLP, but amended to work in a GB-only situation.
At the moment the classification and labelling of substances remains the same as for EU CLP. Information on this can be found in the GB MCL list LINK
The legal text is here: LINK
- analysis of obligations and responsibilities
- technical - regulatory support
- substance analysis for registration / inquiry
- SDS
- Classification and labeling according to CLP GB