The chair of the UK parliamentary Environmental Audit Committee, Phillip Dunne, who replaced Mary Creagh at the end of January, has expressed his concerns over the government’s post-Brexit chemicals strategy in an open letter to the Secretary of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), George Eustace.

In the letter, Mr Dunne has said that given the delays already incurred by the coronavirus pandemic, the decision to postpone work on it to prioritise the government’s response to the COVID-19 crisis was ‘regrettable’.

DEFRA has not commented on whether the strategy, due in 2022, would be delayed.

Mr Dunna raises several questions surrounding DEFRA’s approach to chemical regulation after Brexit, highlighting the anxiety among stakeholders about the future of the UK’s relationship with the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) and access to chemicals data.

The letter requests clarity on how the government is using the Brexit transition to prepare UK businesses for a new regulatory framework, and whether a two-year window for UK registrants to submit data packages would be extended.

The committee is concerned that the persistent uncertainty for the sector may damage access to chemicals vital to businesses after the transition period. Unless an extension is agreed with the EU by the end of June, the period will expire at the end of 2020.

While the government has made ‘top-line announcements’ on UK REACH and its competent authority, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), that endeavour to mirror ECHA, the committee adds it “remain[s] unclear how these will work in practice”.

Elsewhere, the letter says that the committee had previously recommended that the HSE should outline a formal role in the substance evaluation process for two UK committees – the Committee on Toxicity and the Hazardous Substances Advisory Committee.

Mr Dunne has requested a response from Defra by 25 May.

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