Chemical Regulations in the UK: BCF “cautiously optimistic”
A newly published “policy direction” by Defra for UK REACH has been received with “cautious optimism” by the British Coatings Federation.
According to a BCF press statement, the new proposals “seem to respond to some of the concerns previously expressed by the British Coatings Federation on behalf of the coatings sector and others in the chemicals industry supply chain. These concerns included, in particular, that full data dossiers for all 20,000 chemical substances currently in the EU REACH database did not need to be recreated in a stand-alone UK REACH database. Instead, today’s statement calls for only ‘the essential minimum’ hazard data to be required for ‘transitional registration’ substances, except in cases where UK regulators’ concern, or global evidence suggests, detailed reviews or more data is needed”.
“Substantial input from the industry”
The statement goes on: “This more targeted approach on ‘hazard’ data for transitional registration substances will be accompanied by a greater focus on collecting ‘use and exposure’ at work data, building knowledge of how chemicals are used across the UK and therefore the risks that might need to be managed. While the latter will still require substantial input from industry, overall, the new proposal seems to offer the potential for a much more workable and proportionate system, without lessening existing protections to the environment or human health and safety.”
