Brexit: Implications for Hazard Communication

GB’s new CLP Regulation -- GB-CLP

The Brexit Transition Period is set to end on the 31st December 2020. As things stand, starting 1st January 2021, the EU Classification, Labelling and Packaging (CLP) Regulation will cease to apply in Great Britain (GB); in its place, a GB version is anticipated to come into force (GB-CLP).

How will Brexit affect your SDS and labelling obligations?

We have recently received many questions from businesses on uncertainty about Brexit and whether the transition from EU-CLP to GB-CLP will impact their product SDS and labelling obligations, in particular with regards to supplier details provided on labels and SDS of chemical products (CLP Article 17).

Under current EU regulations (CLP 1272/2008 and Annex II of the Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals (REACH) Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006), an EU ‘supplier’ address is required for applicable products being placed onto the EU market (with CLP defining “supplier” as ‘any manufacturer, importer, downstream user or distributor placing on the market a substance, on its own or in a mixture, or a mixture' and each of these entities as being 'established within the [EU] Community’.

With the UK soon to leave the EU, the applicability of a GB address on products imported into the EU, and vice versa, EU addresses on products imported into GB, has been called into question, along with how Northern Ireland (NI) will sit within the new chemical regulatory set-up.  

HSE’s response to draft GB-CLP

As no GB-CLP draft is available yet, Yordas Group has reached out to the UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and German Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (Bundesanstalt für Arbeitsschutz und Arbeitsmedizin – BauA) for further information. 

Both agencies have confirmed that Brexit will bring changes to SDS and labelling requirements on products for GB companies trading with the EU. GB company details will be required on SDS and labels for applicable products imported from the EU prior to placement on the GB market. Likewise, for applicable products exported from GB into the EU, an EU address will be required on SDS and labels before placement onto the EU market. The HSE has confirmed that such changes are not expected to apply in Northern Ireland, where EU-CLP is expected to continue under the Northern Ireland Protocol. 

Dr Ally Crowther, from the REACH and CLP Helpdesk of the HSE, provided the following response, in line with responses from the German BauA:  

“It is anticipated that the UN GHS (on which CLP is based) will be adopted in the same way as in the EU, meaning the majority of CLP would continue to be applied in GB. The main duties and obligations on suppliers to classify, label and package hazardous chemicals would remain the same. Under the Northern Ireland Protocol, we anticipate that EU CLP will continue to apply to NI.

As we understand it, under GB CLP the label will need to include the details of the GB supplier, who will be defined as ‘any manufacturer, importer, downstream user or distributor placing on the market a substance, on its own or in a mixture, or a mixture;’.  A GB company receiving a product from an EU company (or a company outside of the EU) will become an importer under GB CLP, and therefore be responsible for producing the GB CLP label (and including their address on the label). For a product going from GB to the EU, the EU-based importer would be responsible for producing the EU CLP label and including their address details. Whether the inclusion of the EU address is applied at the point of export from the UK, is a business decision for the two companies to decide.”

The labelling obligations of a GB company importing from outside the EU will remain unchanged by the switch from EU-CLP to GB-CLP; GB ‘supplier’ details will continue to be expected on applicable products, before being placed onto the GB market. 

The HSE provided the following information to this end; 

“From the 1 January 2021 GB businesses must classify and label substances and/or mixtures according to GB CLP (including the address of the GB supplier) before placing them on the GB market. 

GB-based businesses will not have to update their labels on their products immediately provided that:

• the substances or mixtures have already been placed on the UK market (or in an EU country) before 1 January 2021; and

• the substances or mixtures are already in the GB supply chain, and the hazard labelling is in accordance with GB mandatory classification and labelling (MCL)  published on the HSE website

GB based businesses will not have to take back or re-label any products that they have already placed legally on the market, but they should make arrangements to update the labels on any stock that they have been holding without undue delay in accordance with the GB CLP Regulation. They may also need to provide information to their supply chain if required.”  

Dr Ally Crowther, HSE

Quick Summary

Details on GB-CLP are yet to be confirmed; companies within the Chemicals Industry who may be affected by the regulatory to CLP are advised to follow the HSE webpages for updates: https://www.hse.gov.uk/brexit/clp.htm

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