GB downstream user

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Maintaining access to GB market 

If you were a downstream user under EU REACH whereby you were relying on EU-27/EEA registrations, from the end of the transition period you may have become a GB importer and therefore may have registration obligations in GB. Some transitional arrangements apply if you were a downstream user under EU REACH in the 2 years before the end of the transition period (1st January 2019 - 31st December 2020).

 You should have submitted a notification for each substance you are importing into GB at 1 tonne or more per year, this includes substances by themselves, substances in mixtures and substances in articles that are intended to be released. Notifications had to be submitted to the HSE via the UK REACH IT system within 300 days of the UK leaving EU REACH (by 27 October 2021). If you have missed the deadline, please consult the HSE website for more information. 

 REACHReady recommends that companies identify all the substances (by themselves, in mixtures and in articles that are intended to be released) they are importing and to track these volumes to determine if they will have any registration obligations under UK REACH. 

The notification includes data on the substance but the downstream only has to provide the information that they have available or are able to obtain, see Table 1. The notification doesn’t incur any fees.

 Table 1: Data required for the 300 day notification Legal reference Article 10, Article 14, Article 31, Article 32  

If you have submitted a notification you will need to submit the full registration dossier within a phased registration time frame based on tonnage and hazard properties in order to maintain access to GB market (deadlines: 27 October 2026; 27 October 2028; 27 October 2030). These will be classed as new registrations and a HSE fee will apply.  

It is possible for the EU based REACH registration holder to appoint an Only Representative in the UK. The Only Representative would take on the notification and registration obligations meaning that the UK based importer would not have to carry out these obligations and would be regarded as a downstream user.

 REACHReady recommends that GB downstream users check with their UK and EU suppliers on their intent to maintain access to the relevant markets. 

 Maintaining access to EU market 

If you are wanting to place your products on the EU market you need to be aware that the individual substances (by themselves, in mixtures, in articles that are intended to be released) will need to be registered under EU REACH which could mean that your EU27/EEA/Northern Ireland customers would then have registration obligations under EU REACH if importing at 1 tonne or more per year. However, if the substances were originally sourced from the EU they may already have a registration and could fall under the re-import exemption. For this exemption to apply all the following criteria need to be met:

• the substance must have been registered before it was export from the EU
• the substance that had been registered and exported must be the same as the substance being re-imported
• the substance must proceed from the same supply chain in which the substance was registered 
• the re-importer must have been provided with information on the exported substance

 Full details on this exemption can be found in ECHA’s guidance on registration Section 2.2.3.6 

 If however, the substances were not originally sourced from the EU and therefore can’t use the above exemption you may be able to appoint an EU based Only Representative that would take on the registration obligations therefore relieving your EU27/EEA/Northern Ireland customers of these obligations. Click here to find our more on how to choose the best OR for y