UK REACH Registration Deadlines Officially Extended

The long-awaited decision by the UK government on whether to extend the UK REACH registration deadlines for those wanting to sell chemicals into the UK has finally been taken. It had been expected for some time that these deadlines would be extended by 3 years, which has now been confirmed.

This means that the registration deadlines will change as follows:-

• Originally 27 October 2023 will now be 27 October 2026 for substances included on the EU REACH candidate list before UK REACH came into effect on 31 December 2020; substances that are carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic for reproduction and manufactured or imported in quantities of 1 tonne a year or more; substances that are very toxic to aquatic life and manufactured or imported in quantities of 100 tonnes or more a year; 3 CO/EM/2022.3 and all substances manufactured or imported in quantities of 1,000 tonnes or more a year;

• Originally 27 October 2025 will now be 27 October 2028 for substances added to the UK REACH candidate list before the above submission deadline; and all substances manufactured or imported in quantities of 100 tonnes or more a year;

• Originally 27 October 2027 will now be 27 October 2030 for all substances manufactured or imported in quantities of 1 tonne or more a year.

This change to the UK REACH registration process will become law from 19/07/2023. Effectively this now gives manufacturers and distributors another 3 years before they have to decide whether or not to register a material if the UK sales value is questionable against the costs of registration. It will delay the loss of some materials from the UK market, but this is unlikely to change the outcome for such materials.