UK REACH Registration

Since 1 January 2021, UK REACH has applied in Great Britain. The Steering Committe of the Lead REACH Consortium has agreed that the Consortium will oversee the UK REACH registration process for its substances, providing support to its members and data access for non-members via relevant legal agreements.

UK REACH Registration

Substances manufactured in or imported into Great Britain (GB) in quantities of 1 tonne or more per year per legal entity must be registered under UK REACH.

To help to minimise the impacts, and to provide continuity for businesses, UK REACH includes a range of transitional provisions, including, for UK REACH Registration:

  • Grandfathering: EU REACH registrations held by GB-based legal entities since 29 March 2017 are recognised under UK REACH in a process known as ‘grandfathering‘
    • GB-based registrants should have claimed their registration by submitting basic information in the UK’s ‘Comply with UK REACH‘ IT system by 30 April 2021, and then follow up with a registration dossier within the relevant registration deadline.
    • No fee is payable for grandfathered registrations.
  • DUIN: GB-based legal entities that were Downstream Users or Distributors under EU REACH now have UK REACH registration obligations as importers. If they were supplied by EU27/EEA companies in the 2 years prior to 1 January 2021, they should have submitted a ‘Downstream User Import Notification‘ (DUIN) by submitting basic information to the UK HSE by 27 October 2021, before following up with an Article 26 Inquiry and then a registration dossier within the relevant registration deadline.
  • No DUIN fee is payable, but the company will be required to pay a registration fee.
    • According to the HSE’s website, GB companies that did not notify HSE by 27 October 2021 and wish to continue to import EU REACH registered substances into GB at or above one tonne per year can still submit a DUIN, if eligible to do so and should do so as soon as possible.

Practical guidance on grandfathering and DUIN is available to Consortium members.

For other GB companies wishing to manufacture or import at 1 tonne or more per year, a ‘New Registration of an Existing Substance’ (NRES) applies – companies must submit an Article 26 inquiry, followed by a registration dossier, and they must pay the relevant registration fee to HSE before starting manufacture or import at 1 tonne or more.

Fees

UK REACH fees are based on EU REACH fees converted from Euro to GBP, based on the average conversion rate for 2017. Registration fees are dependent on tonnage band and company size. More information

Deferred registration deadlines

As with EU REACH, the deferred deadlines for UK REACH Registration are dependent on tonnage and hazard profile. The original UK REACH submission deadlines were extended by 3 years in 2023 and are now as follows:

Deadline Tonnage Hazardous properties
27 October 2026 Manufactured/imported in quantities of 1,000 tpy or more
  • Carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic for reproduction (CMRs) – 1 tonne or more per year,
  • Very toxic to aquatic organisms (acute or chronic) – 100 tonnes or more per year,
  • Included on the ECHA Candidate List as at 31 December 2020.
27 October 2028 Manufactured/imported in quantities of 100 tonnes or more per year
  • Included on the Candidate list as at 27 October 2026.
27 October 2030 Manufactured/imported in quantities of 1 tonne or more per year  

Due to their hazard profile, Pb REACH Consortium substances fall in scope of the 27 October 2026 deadline.

NB for new registrations (NRES), these deadlines do not apply.

Data access

To support their UK REACH registrations, all GB-based registrants – whether they were existing manufacturers/importers under EU REACH, GB-based Downstream Users under EU REACH newly needing to register, or are GB-based Only Representatives appointed by non-UK manufacturers/formulators for UK REACH – will need the right to refer to the data for UK REACH registration purposes.

A paper confirming the data sharing arrangements for Pb REACH Consortium substances was circulated to Consortium members in Q4 2020. In summary, as agreed by the Steering Committee:

  • The data rights of Pb REACH Consortium members and existing GB-based LOA/LTU holders for Pb REACH Consortium substances will be continued under UK REACH, subject to the execution of relevant legal documents
  • Non-member companies newly requiring access to the Consortium’s data for UK REACH registration purposes – e.g., GB-based entities covered by a DUIN, new manufacturers/importers, UK REACH ORs – normally require a Letter of Access agreement, granted on payment of the relevant fee.

Contact the Secretariat for more information.

What is UK REACH?

After the UK’s withdrawal from the EU and the subsequent transition period which ended on 31 December 2020, the EU REACH Regulation was brought into UK law with the necessary changes to make it operable in a domestic, i.e. GB (England, Scotland and Wales), context. The key principles, objectives and provisions of the EU REACH Regulation have been retained – for example, GB-based manufacturers and importers of substances in quantities of 1 tonne or more per year must submit registration dossiers to the UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE). Transitional measures have, however, been implemented in UK REACH to help minimise the impact on affected businesses.

Find out more about UK REACH.