UK Government revokes Annex VIII of EU CLP in Great Britain

On 29 June 2023, the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023 received royal assent and is now act of parliament (law). Schedule 1 of the Act lists approximately 600 retained EU laws that will be revoked on 31 December 2023. More details on the amendment can be found here.

The Act revokes Annex VIII of the classification, labelling and packaging (CLP) regulation (poison centres) in Great Britain which had been carried over into GB law in error following the UK’s departure from the EU (Brexit). It had been the plan of the UK government to implement a voluntary scheme for poison centre notifications after Brexit instead of the mandatory provisions under Annex VIII of the EU CLP. Annex VIII requires importers and downstream users in the EU to submit information on hazardous mixtures in form of a Poison Centre Notification (PCN) which allows poison centres to advice citizens or medical personnel in the event of a poisoning.

It is expected that the revocation will have the following implications:

• UK companies will no longer be obligated to provide the full Poison Centre data as specified in Annex VIII.

• The administrative burden for companies will be reduced since compliance with the detailed requirements of Annex VIII can be complex and time-consuming for companies.

• Clarification for the chemical industry in the UK that they will not be required to comply with the specific poison centre data submission requirements outlined in Annex VIII eliminating any potential confusion that may have arisen from its accidental inclusion.

It is expected that a voluntary scheme for poison centre notifications will be implemented where importers and downstream users are encouraged to voluntarily submit information to the National Poison Information Service (NPIS) by using a Safety Data Sheet (SDS).

The full text of the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023 can be found here.