UK REACH: extending transitional registration deadlines

This article provides an overview of the UK Government's recent consultation (available here) regarding the extension of transitional registration submission deadlines under UK REACH.

Transitional registrations are for businesses that previously registered substances under EU REACH and now need to register them with UK REACH following Brexit. 

Registration

When the UK was part of the EU Single Market, information on substances were registered under EU REACH. An equivalent registration scheme – UK REACH - was introduced for substances made or imported into Great Britain (GB) post-Brexit. Businesses that either manufacture in or import into GB chemical substances above one tonne a year must now register under UK REACH. 

However, substance registrations were not automatically transferred to the UK's Health and Safety Executive, which has adopted the role as the UK's REACH Agency, following Brexit. Some businesses may therefore be required to register the information which was previously registered under EU REACH under UK REACH to allow substances to remain available on the GB market. 

To help to minimise the impact of UK REACH registrations for businesses, the UK Government has implemented transitional provisions for EU REACH registration holders based in GB including extending deadlines to provide full registration data. The recent consultation relates to an extension of those deadlines.

The Consultation

The UK Government initially set the following deadlines for full registration data to be provided: October 2026, October 2028, and October 2030, phased according to the tonnages and hazard profiles of the substances which are subject to registration.

To support this change, the UK REACH Alternative Transitional Registration model (ATRm) was proposed. This outlines how businesses should provide registration data to UK REACH for transitional substances, including substances which were "grandfathered" ^[1] under the EU REACH arrangements, New Registration for Existing Substances (NRES) ^[2], or included in a downstream user import notification (DUIN) ^[3]. The ATRm aims to cut costs to businesses trying to access EU data packages to support UK REACH transitional registrations, whilst ensuring the UK Government's overarching commitment to high levels of protection of human health and the environment.

However, due to the ongoing development of the ATRm, it is not possible for the relevant legislative changes and transition arrangements to be completed ahead of the first transitional registration deadline in October 2026.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) therefore recently held a consultation for proposals to be made in the interests of extending the UK REACH transitional registration submission deadlines (the Consultation).

The Consultation invites stakeholder views on three potential options for new deadlines, those being:

• Option 1 (October 2029, October 2030, October 2031)
• Option 2 (April 2029, April 2031, April 2033)
• Option 3 (April 2029, April 2030, April 2031).

The UK Government favours Option 1 on the basis that it would allow the Government time to finalise the design and implementation of the ATRm, as well as provide a transition period of approximately two years for the industry to comply with relevant registration requirements.

The Consultation closed on 8 September 2025.

Commentary

Peter Snaith comments, 

"Industry is likely to favour the option which provides the longest amount of time (Option 2) to prepare for registrations. Manufacturers and importers of chemical substances have already invested very significant costs to comply with the harmonised system for all of the European market when the UK was a member of the EU. Repeating aspects of this process to now comply with the requirements of the UK regulations will involve costs and resources which businesses will want to manage. More time may allow costs to be spread over a longer period of time and avoid bottlenecks in the resource required to prepare the data. Longer deadlines may also assist less-experienced businesses in meeting their registration obligations under this new framework."

However, on the other hand, Ashley Borthwick explains, 

"Some organisations will favour the shortest timeframe (Option 3) due to concerns regarding the potential impact on human safety and the environment as a result of delaying the submission of full registration data. There also appear to be calls for data to be prioritised depending on how harmful the relevant substance is, regardless of tonnage."

We will provide a further update following the outcome of the consultation process. In the meantime, please do not hesitate our Chemicals team if you have any questions.

Footnotes

[1] The "grandfathering" system permitted relevant pre-Brexit EU REACH registrations held by GB-based companies to be recognised under UK REACH subject to conditions.

[2] A New Registration of an Existing Substance (NRES) under UK REACH is, in general terms, the registration process for businesses manufacturing or importing substances into GB that were previously registered under EU REACH, but that particular business is unable to take advantage of "grandfathering" or submit a DUIN.

[3] A Downstream User Import Notification (DUIN) is, in general terms, an option under UK REACH for GB-based companies that were downstream users or distributors of EU REACH registered substances to notify the HSE if they intend to continue importing these substances.