Agency to regulate chemicals needed to protect UK, say experts

RSC said they decided to make a public intervention after waiting for more than four years for clarity on how chemicals should be regulated following the UK’s exit from the EU.

Prior to 2020, the UK and the 27 current EU countries worked in tandem to research and monitor chemicals, and set rules around their use.

Following Brexit, the UK has undertaken sole responsibility for chemical regulation domestically, but there have been delays establishing a new system.

“The current regulatory regime for chemicals in the UK is not fit-for-purpose, failing to support innovation or to adequately protect our waterways, soil, air and built environment,” said Professor Gillian Reid, president of the Royal Society of Chemistry.

Last month the government announced it was consulting on a new chemicals’ registration process – intended to be the key mechanism by which the UK will track which chemicals are being imported into the country.

The process was intended to be in place from the day the UK officially left the EU, four years ago, in 2020. The RSC said the delay is impacting dozens of industries which operate across the UK and EU market – from cosmetics, to food manufacturing, to agriculture.

Stephanie Metzger, policy advisor at the RSC and co-author of the report, said: “Businesses are in this ‘limbo’ phase. This makes it really difficult for them to plan financially what they are going to invest in, and decide what research they might want to do.”