Defra response to consultation on UK REACH deadlines

On 29th November DEFRA published the results of the consultation on the UK REACH Deadlines. DEFRA had asked affected companies how the government should handle the transition periods from EU REACH to UK REACH. Respondents were asked to comment on the proposals to extend the current UK REACH submission deadlines by up to 3 years.

Details

The majority of companies were in favour of extending all current deadlines of each tonnage band by 3 years (option 1). Defra recognizes that Option 1 could reduce the burden on SMEs and downstream users without significantly reducing the level of protection for human health and the environment. Therefore, subject to the agreement of the Scottish and Welsh Governments, the UK Government intends to extend the submission deadlines for all tonnage bands by three years.

Subject to the necessary agreement of the devolved administrations, the UK government will also extend the statutory compliance review deadlines so that they do not precede the data submission deadlines.
This means that the REACH registration deadlines in the UK be extended to October 2026, 2028 and 2030, and legislation to extend the submission deadlines will be introduced next year.

Full information on the outcome of the survey can be found here.

If you need advice regarding UK Reach deadlines, please do not hesitate to contact our experts at CSB.