Recognising your EU REACH registrations under UK REACH (grandfathering)

To help to minimise the impacts of introducing UK REACH and to provide continuity for businesses, the UK Government has implemented transitional provisions for EU REACH registration holders based in Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales).

Relevant EU REACH registrations have been recognised under UK REACH, this is known as 'grandfathering'.

Grandfathering allows you to continue to access the GB market; however, there are steps you must take using the Comply with UK REACH service.

No registration fee will be levied by HSE for grandfathering your registration.

Who is this guidance for?

• GB-based holders of EU REACH registrations, including:
  • GB-based manufacturers and importers
  • GB-based Only Representatives (ORs)
• GB-based legal entities that held an EU REACH registration and transferred it to an EU-based legal entity at any point after 29 March 2017 (the date the UK notified its intention to leave the EU) and before the end of the Transition Period.

If a GB-based legal entity transferred their EU REACH registration to another GB-based legal entity, only the GB-based legal entity to whom the registration was transferred will be entitled to have that registration recognised under UK REACH.

It is not possible for EU-based legal entities to have their EU registrations recognised under UK REACH. UK REACH only applies in the UK, therefore legal entities based in the EU and EEA can have no obligations under this regime.

What you should do to grandfather your registration

In order to grandfather your previous EU REACH registration you need to:

• open an account on the Comply with UK REACH service
• provide some initial information (which mostly relates to the Annex VI of EU REACH) about your existing registration. At this point, your UK REACH registration number will be issued to you.

Provide initial information as soon as possible

If you hold a registration that is subject to ‘grandfathering’  and you are continuing to manufacture in Great Britain or import the registered substance into Great Britain at or above one tonne per year you must provide some initial information to HSE.

The deadline for providing this initial information was 30 April 2021 but you can still submit the information.  You should provide the initial information as soon as possible using the Comply with UK REACH service.

You must submit different information if you are a GB-based registrant of intermediates under EU REACH.

You must submit the following initial information:

• evidence of your existing EU registration - the appropriate ECHA registration number, the registration date assigned by ECHA and any other relevant evidence requested previously by that Agency
• identity of the registrant (Article 10(a)(i)) you will use this information to create your UK REACH-IT account
• substance identity (Article 10 (a)(ii))
• information on the manufacture and use of the substance (Article 10(a)(iii))
• an indication as to which, if any, of the relevant information on manufacture and use has been reviewed by an assessor (Article 10(a)(viii))
• notification of any ECHA decision which relates to the existing registration. These should be attached to Section 13 of your IUCLID dossier

In addition to the grandfathering information you will be required to submit any relevant information from your EU registration dossier (eg testing proposals) using Comply with UK REACH. If your dossier contains information for which your rights to refer have altered as a result of leaving the EU, you may wish to create a member dossier from your substance dataset. In such a dossier, you should redact the information relating to Annex VII-XI, leaving only the Annex VI information and any attachments.

Note: The Comply with UK REACH service will only accept dossiers compiled using IUCLID 6 and above. If your dossiers are in an older IUCLID format, you will need to convert them as per the guidance on the IUCLID website.

Once you have provided this first batch of information for a substance, you will be able to see all of the other legal entities that have grandfathered their existing EU registration, along with any new registrants that have successfully inquired for that substance. At this point, you will be able to begin engaging in data-sharing negotiations with the other (potential) registrants.

Within 2, 4 or 6 years plus 300 days of the end of the Transition Period (depending on tonnage band and hazard profile of the substance, refer to table below), you must:

comply with the full information requirements for your tonnage band under UK REACH, in accordance with Article 10. The information requirements for registration under UK REACH are identical to the requirements of EU REACH.

It is expected that where there are multiple registrants for a substance, this information will be submitted jointly. ECHA's Guidance on data-sharing remains a useful and valid document.

Part of joint registration involves agreement of the identity of the lead registrant. Further details can be found at UK REACH: Lead Registrants in the UK REACH.

What GB registrants of intermediates under EU REACH must submit

If you hold a registration for an intermediate that was subject to ‘grandfathering’ and you are continuing to manufacture in Great Britain or import the registered intermediate substance into Great Britain at or above one tonne per year, you must provide some initial information to HSE.

The deadline for providing the initial information was 30 April 2021 but you can still submit the information. You should provide the initial information as soon as possible using the Comply with UK REACH service.

You must submit the following initial information:

• evidence of your ECHA registration – the appropriate ECHA registration number and date, and such other evidence as HSE may require of the EU registration; and
• for on-site isolated intermediates: the information referred to in Article 17(2)(a), (b), (e) and (f), and the confirmation referred to in Article 17(3); or
• for transported isolated intermediates: the information referred to in Article 18(2)(a), (b), (e) and (f), and the confirmation referred to in Article 18(4)
• this means the following information:
  • identity of manufacturer or importer (Article 17(2)(a) or 18(2)(a))
  • identity of the intermediate (Article 17(2)(b) or 18(2)(b))
  • a brief general description of use (Article 17(2)(e) or 18(2)(e))
  • details of the risk management measures applied (Article 17(2)(f) or 18(2)(f))
  • confirmation of application of strictly controlled conditions (Article 17(3) or 18(4))

All of the other information submitted to ECHA in accordance with Article 17 or 18 must be submitted to HSE within 300 days of the end of the transition period plus either 2, 4 or 6 years depending on the tonnage and hazard profile (go to table below) of the substance being registered. This is the:

• information referred to in Article 17(2)(c) and (d) or Article 18(2)(c) and (d) and Article 18(3)
• this means the following information:
  • the classification of the intermediate (Article 17(2)(c) or 18(2)(c))
  • any available existing information on physicochemical, human health or environmental properties of the intermediate (Article 17(2)(d) or 18(2)(d))
• the additional information on physicochemical, human health or environmental properties as specified in Annex VII (Article 18(3))