Responding to Defra’s new consultation on extending – yet again – the registration deadlines for UK REACH, CEO of the BCF, Tom Bowtell, said:

“The BCF welcomes this consultation, which offers options to further extend the REACH registration deadlines, as the delays in finding a permanent UK REACH solution mean the existing dates due to begin next year are now untenable. New dates must be agreed to give companies assurance and time to comply properly with UK law.

“However, yet again we find ourselves having to respond to a consultation about how long that extension should be without having sight of what the actual registration model is. Likewise, commenting on what percentage of dossiers should be compliance checked by the HSE is difficult to do without knowing what amount of data is being collected as part of the registration model, as well as the timescale.

“As for the Government’s preferred option to now reduce the gap between registration bands from two years to one year starting from 2029, while we will need to consult members before making a final submission our initial view is that the two-year gap had been put in place for good reasons. Those valid reasons for a two-year gap have not gone away just because the Government doesn’t want to see the registration process drift further.

“While we are confident further extensions will be agreed, it may not be until next summer before the new dates are put into law: we would urge attempts for a speedier legislative resolution if possible once the extension period has been decided upon.”