HSE Chemicals Legislative Reform Proposals

1. The chemicals sector is at the heart of GB’s manufacturing industry. It consists of more than 4,100 businesses – including large global multinationals, medium sized companies, and small enterprises. Between them they span the whole supply chain, from energy and feedstocks to pharmaceuticals and consumer products. The chemicals sector makes a key contribution to the UK economy, generating £46.3bn industry turnover and £12.2bn Gross Value Added. The sector is responsible for thousands of highly skilled and well-rewarded jobs located in parts of the country where they are essential to the local economy. It is estimated that the chemicals sector directly employs 104,600 people, and industry sources report that for every employee around three more jobs are supported in purchased services and supply chains resulting in sustaining nearly 500,000 jobs around the UK.

2. The UK chemicals regulatory framework regulates the lifecycle of chemicals – manufacture, storage, supply, distribution, use and disposal of chemicals and the protection of people and places where they may be exposed to chemicals. Regulations also cover the export and import of chemicals and implement the UK’s pre-existing commitments under international agreements. Following EU Exit, these direct acting EU regulations became incorporated into UK law under section 3 of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018.

3. The management of chemicals is complex and currently requires shared responsibility across government departments – including HSE, the Department for Business and Trade (DBT), and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) – and devolved governments. HSE is the GB chemicals regulator but certain functions are also disaggregated across departments in accordance with existing portfolios and expertise along with application and class of chemical. The UK Chemicals Governance Group (UKCGG) provides strategic oversight of the various regulatory regimes within the UK. The UKCGG is informed by a number of groups, including the Chemicals Delivery Board (CDB), Pesticides Delivery Board (PDB), and Biocides Delivery Board (BDB).

4. Regulation must be balanced against removing unnecessary barriers to growth in the chemicals sector and set a clear path to regulation which supports the Government’s Industrial Strategy set out in its green paper Invest 2035: the UK’s modern industrial strategy.

5. The Regulatory Action Plan (RAP) published by Government in March 2025 clearly sets out the ambition for regulatory reform. Reforms must support growth, be targeted and proportionate, transparent and predictable and adaptive to keep pace with innovation.

6. The aims described above can be achieved by changing how HSE approaches regulating chemicals. HSE will make changes to reduce burdens whilst maintaining existing levels of health and environmental protection.

7. The changes must continue to champion HSE’s strategic goal to increase and maintain trust to ensure people feel safe where they live, where they work, and in their environment, capitalising on HSE’s expertise regulating across the chemicals and health and safety landscape.

8. This consultation document provides an outline of the key reforms HSE considers necessary or desirable to make changes to the chemicals regimes on which it leads. It seeks to do this by proposing changes to assimilated EU-derived legislation (Assimilated law refers to the UK domestic law that was previously known as "retained EU law" (REUL) and which was created by the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. The Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023 changed the terminology to "assimilated law" on January 1, 2024.). Depending on the nature and extent of the proposed change, this suite of changes are likely to need a mixture of primary and secondary legislation.  A summary of the proposals is below, with more detailed information set out in the background and regime-specific sections.

GB Biocidal Products Regulation (GB BPR)

• Introduce a system which allows the recognition of approvals and, where appropriate, authorisations given in foreign jurisdictions with similar standards. This proposal delivers on the Government’s commitment that HSE will consult on how international approvals can be recognised to reduce the time and cost to bring chemical products, including biocides, to the GB market, which was made as part of the Action Plan to ensure regulators and regulation support growth
• Replace the system of active substance renewals. Approvals would no longer have fixed expiry dates. Instead, active substances would be “called in” for review by HSE using a risk-based approach and in a manner which facilitates the smooth flow of goods across the whole UK Internal Market
• Introduce powers to permit the Secretary of State to allow biocidal active substances and biocidal products which are essential to society to be made available on the GB market where needed, whilst safeguarding against possible abuse of the system by means of specific conditions
• Introduce powers to make further amendments in secondary legislation to the detailed procedures in GB BPR, making it possible to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the regime in future in a more agile way

Classification, Labelling and Packaging of Chemicals Substances and Mixtures (GB CLP)

• Consolidate Article 37 and Article 37A of the assimilated Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008 into a single procedure for GB mandatory classifications and break the automatic link requiring HSE to consider all Committee for Risk Assessment (RAC) Opinions published by the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA)
• Revoke the GB CLP notification database and requirement for GB duty holders to submit notifications to HSE as the GB CLP Agency, thereby reducing burdens on duty holders and the regulator
• Relocate explanatory notes relating to entries in the GB Mandatory Classification and Labelling (GB MCL) List from Annex VI to the Regulation to HSE’s website. This proposal would enable the Agency to make future revisions to notes pertaining to GB MCL entries in an administrative capacity, rather than through a Statutory Instrument
• Introduce powers to make future amendments to GB CLP and its supporting regulations implement general updates and international obligations. This will ensure the timely reflection of wider political, technological and scientific developments and will establish continuous means by which the UK can meet new or revised international commitments

Prior Informed Consent for the Export and Import of Certain Hazardous Chemicals (GB PIC)

• Remove redundant procedures such as the Special Reference Identification Number (Special RIN or SRIN) procedure for small quantities of chemicals being exported for research or analysis in quantities unlikely to affect human health or the environment
• Amend the “waiver” process whereby the Designated National Authority can waive for one year the requirement for the explicit consent of the importing country to be in place before export takes place, streamlining the waiver conditions so that the same conditions would apply to all qualifying chemicals
• Introduce powers to make future amendments and updates to GB PIC and its supporting regulations to implement general updates and international obligations. This will ensure that the UK can continue to implement its international obligations within the required timescales and to better tailor procedures to GB requirements

9. This consultation is relevant to manufacturers, downstream users (e.g. formulators), distributors (e.g. retailers), importers and exporters of hazardous chemicals and the general public. It is also relevant to authorisation holders of biocidal active substances and suppliers of approved biocidal products.

10. HSE became the independent regulator for chemicals regulation in GB following EU Exit. To facilitate the transition, the chemicals regulatory framework was replicated onto the UK statute books using powers in the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. The retained law largely mirrored the EU regulations at the point of EU Exit to ensure legal certainty and continuity at the end of the EU Exit transition period.

11. This gave rise to the current regulatory framework for England, Scotland and Wales.

• Biocidal Products Regulation (GB BPR) – GB BPR provides a framework for the authorisation and approval of biocidal active substances and the products containing them. Biocides are a specific range of chemicals aimed at controlling harmful organisms and pests such as micro-organisms or rodents.
• Classification, Labelling and Packaging of Substances and Mixtures Regulation (GB CLP) – GB CLP provides a framework for the classification of hazardous chemicals (carcinogenic, toxic for reproduction, mutagenic) and the labelling and packaging of those chemicals. It adopts a UN agreement in this area called the Global Harmonised System (GHS).
• The Export and Import of Hazardous Chemicals Regulation (GB PIC) – GB PIC requires companies to notify exports of listed hazardous chemicals to countries outside Great Britain, and in some cases seek their consent to export chemicals. It implements the international Rotterdam Convention, to which the UK is a party.

12. When leaving the EU, these regulations were incorporated under section 3 of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. The regulations were amended in The Chemicals (Health and Safety) and Genetically Modified Organisms (Contained Use) (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 and The Chemicals (Health and Safety) and Genetically Modified Organisms (Contained Use) (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020.

13. In order to facilitate its dual access to both the UK Internal Market and EU Single Market, Northern Ireland continues to apply certain rules relating to chemicals under the terms of the Windsor Framework. The territorial scope of the measures described in this consultation is GB. However, the Government intends to avoid any regulatory barriers between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK, in line with the manifesto commitment to protect the UK Internal Market.

14. The proposals set out in this consultation document will give HSE greater flexibility and scope to make necessary – including urgent – or appropriate regulatory decisions in GB at pace with international partners, including the EU and the rest of the world where appropriate, easing potential trade frictions arising as a result of delayed regulatory decision-making.

15. The changes will assist HSE to become increasingly adaptive and ambitious in how it regulates chemicals in keeping with the Government’s new approach to regulation and growth set out in the RAP. Removing duplication, streamlining processes and taking a more risk-based approach will ensure HSE remains an effective GB regulator and it will be better situated to pass efficiencies on to business.

Purpose of this consultation

16. HSE, with the agreement of Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Ministers, is consulting on proposed changes to the GB BPR, GB CLP and GB PIC regimes. This document sets out the proposed changes to these regimes and seeks views.

17. In particular, HSE wish to consult on the commitment made in the RAP on how international approvals can be recognised to reduce the time and cost to bring chemicals products, including biocides, to the GB market. The HSE proposed changes are framed with this in mind.

18. Any changes will be subject to ministerial approval and will need to be agreed by Parliament if primary legislation is required.