DEFRA publishes delayed UK REACH Work Programme for 2023/24

Topic

Objective

Deliverables

Stakeholder advice and support

Provide clear, helpful, and timely advice to dutyholders and stakeholders

- Respond to 90 % of stakeholder advice and support enquiries within 10 working days.

- Provide technical advice on the UK REACH IT service via the Environment Agency's National Customer Contact Centre.

- Continue to develop HSE's UK REACH webpages.

Independent scientific advice

Use the REACH Independent Scientific Expert Pool (RISEP) to provide opinions on restriction and authorisation applications.

- Transparent use of RISEP for restriction and authorisation opinions.

- Recruitment and training to expand RISEP.

- Collaboration with RISEP experts to review and draft guidance on authorisation applications.

Registration and PPORD (Product and Process Orientated Research and Development)

Provide dutyholders with access to data and tools for dossier preparation; process submissions efficiently.

- Complete processing of Article 26 inquiries and new UK REACH registrations.

- Work with the Environment Agency to process PPORD submissions.

- Refine and enhance the UK REACH IT service and case management platform.

Dossier evaluation

Meet legal obligations for compliance checking of registration dossiers.

- Compliance check at least 20% of valid dossiers for different tonnage bands.

- Examine testing proposals in registration dossiers to avoid unnecessary animal testing.

Substance evaluation

Evaluate substances in the Rolling Action Plan (RAP) and follow up on previous evaluations.

- Follow-up on the substance evaluation concluded in the previous year.

- Publish the updated final RAP for 2023-2025.

- Evaluate substances included in the updated RAP within 12 months of publication.

Authorisation

Work with industry to gather information on future applications; produce opinions for decision-making.

- Deliver authorisation opinions under REACH, including at least 17 final opinions.

- Ensure appropriate use of RISEP within case teams.

Identification of Substances of Very High Concern (SVHCs) for potential inclusion on the Candidate List

Assess substances for potential inclusion on the Candidate List based on specific hazard criteria; consider substances from various sources.

- Assess PFAS used as processing aids for SVHC identification.

- Undertake an initial assessment of substances identified as SVHCs in EU REACH during 2022/23.

- Propose substances for inclusion on the Candidate List as appropriate.

Recommending SVHCs for Potential Inclusion on the Authorisation List (Annex 14)

Review substances for potential inclusion on the Authorisation List; ensure progressive replacement with less hazardous alternatives.

- Make the second recommendation of SVHCs from the UK REACH Candidate List for inclusion in Annex 14.

- Publish the draft recommendation for public consultation.

Regulatory Management Options Analysis (RMOA)

Assess potential risks associated with substances; recommend risk management actions under UK REACH.

- Complete RMOAs initiated in the previous year and initiate new RMOAs for identified priorities.

- Undertake scoping work for new restrictions before preparing restriction dossiers.

Restriction

Finalize restriction proposals; initiate scoping work for new restrictions.

- Finalize opinions for two restrictions already underway (tattoo ink and lead in ammunition) and send to Appropriate Authorities for decision.

- Undertake scoping work for new restrictions and begin preparing Annex 15 dossiers.

Planning and reporting

Ensure transparent and efficient planning, reporting, and communication mechanisms to facilitate effective implementation and continuous improvement of the UK REACH regulatory framework.

- Publish UK-REACH evaluation reports by 28 February 2024

- Draft 2024/2025 Work Programme and 2023 Annual Report for UK-REACH activities.