What Brexit means for EU importers and UK suppliers?

With 1. 1. 2021 a lot has changed regarding regulation of chemicals in the EU: 

1. Brexit has come to pass without any special agreement on chemicals – meaning the UK is now officially a third country regarding chemicals trade with EU. 
2. The Annex VIII of Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008 (“CLP Regulation”) is now in use. 

The Annex VIII of Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008 for hazardous mixtures (with physical hazards and/or hazards to human health), intended for consumer and professional use specifies the harmonized format of the information to the ECHA’s PCN Submission portal – PCN notification. Duty holders are importers and downstream users. 
 
The information is to be used by the Poison Centres in case of a poisoning scenario. Also, the so called UFI numbers must be affixed on the packaging of such hazardous mixtures.  
 
What happens to UK-based PCN notifications, which were made before 2021 (before Brexit)? 
 
Technically, ECHA Submission portal notifications made by UK-based companies will remain in the database and will not be deleted. They will stay available for the Appointed Bodies of the EU/EEA Member States. However, EU importers cannot rely on these notifications and must make their own submission. 
 
Can EU importers refer to UK-based notifications? 

No, EU importers cannot make a reference to a notification made by a UK company e.g., by means of the UFI code, in their own notification. This is in line with other non-EU suppliers, 

as they have no obligations under Article 45 of CLP. The EU importer will remain responsible for the mixtures that they will place on the EU market and as such, they will need to answer to nationally Appointed Bodies and enforcement authorities.  

How can EU importers and UK suppliers work together? 

There are two options for EU importers to continue to legally place hazardous mixtures on the 

EU market: 

1. Full disclosure of mixture composition: The UK supplier can provide the full compositional information to the EU importer. The EU importer will then be able to submit a poison centre notification on their own. 
    
2. Non-disclosure of mixture composition: The UK supplier can agree with an EU-based legal entity to submit a voluntary submission. Then the EU importer can refer to that EU-based notification to submit theirs.  

 
The regulations on chemicals in the EU is becoming ever more complex and it is expected they will become even stricter in the future.  
 
If you are facing difficulties with complying with these regulations, you are welcome to write us at info@bens-consulting.eu. We will do our best to transform your challenges into your advantages.