My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Whitty, for his Amendment 293E. As I have outlined in previous groups, the Bill will enable the Government to update our REACH regulation to ensure it keeps pace with the latest scientific developments and to prevent our chemicals regulation becoming frozen. I start by reassuring the noble Lord that there are already several safeguards included in the Bill. Changes to the REACH regulation have to be consistent with Article 1 of that regulation, including ensuring a high level of protection for human health and the environment. The Secretary of State must publish an explanation of why he considers that to be the case before making any changes.
I know the noble Baroness, Lady Hayman, was particularly concerned about the powers that the Secretary of State is taking to amend this. An ability to make supplementary, incidental, transitional or saving provisions is a standard provision in legislation. The aim is to make sure that we avoid inconsistencies, discrepancies or overlaps developing in the statute book, but it would not enable us to make wholesale changes to the protected provisions. To take an example, Article 35 of the REACH regulation is a protected provision which gives workers the right to access information that their employer receives under other provisions of the REACH regulation, Articles 31 and 32, concerning a chemical substance or mixture they use or may be exposed to. If we were to extend the scope of those other REACH provisions to also cover information about substances in articles, we would want to amend Article 35 to reflect these changes.
I should say at the outset that both the UK and the EU recognise that EU REACH is part of the single market. Access to EU REACH or associate membership
of the European Chemicals Agency are tied to the single market, and the EU insisted on this. The Government have already made it clear that we would not accept being subject to the European Court of Justice, and associate membership would mean just that. However, the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement still provides for co-operation between the EU and UK chemicals agencies.
I should also stay at this juncture that, while I take the point about the larger resources that EU REACH has, Defra has asked HSE to work on two restrictions to date. I know that, normally, the EU would probably do five or six a year, but we have a significant time advantage: even with the Secretary of State asking the devolved authorities’ consent, we still have a speed advantage because we do not have to get agreement from 27 countries, which, in chemicals terms, can actually take many years.
We have also provided over 20 provisions relating to the fundamental principles of REACH, listed in the table in paragraph 6 of Schedule 20. They include: the “no data, no market” principle; the last resort principle on animal testing; the aim of progressively replacing substances of very high concern through the authorisation process; the effect of restrictions; the importance of communicating information to the public on the risks of substances; and various provisions to ensure that UK REACH will be properly transparent.
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The Secretary of State is required to consult on any proposed amendments to REACH and to obtain the consent of the devolved Administrations on devolved matters. All amendments will be subject to the affirmative procedure and must therefore be fully debated in Parliament. In addition to these protections that apply expressly to REACH, the office for environmental protection has general powers to give advice to a Minister on any proposed changes to environmental law. This includes any relevant amendments to the REACH regulation. This advice would be published and the OEP could comment if it thought the Government were seeking inappropriately to amend a protected provision.
We ought to be ambitious and not look solely to the EU to define a successful chemicals regulation. We should follow the best scientific advice and adopt the most appropriate approaches for it. One must remember that the UK is a world leader in the management and regulation of chemicals. That will not change now that we have left the EU. We will build on our global reputation for scientific expertise and continue to provide a strong and influential voice on the world stage as an active party to the four UN conventions on chemicals and waste.
We will continue our work to improve regulations, strengthening the evidence base and ambition globally. The intention of the provisions in Schedule 20 is to make sure that we have the means to keep UK REACH fit for purpose. We can look inside this country, while continuing to look elsewhere in the world, for the best ideas. Schedule 20 gives us that flexibility while still providing necessary protections. The Environment Agency, for example, has built up considerable expertise on the
risks associated with chemicals used as flame retardants. When we have more experience of operating UK REACH, we may well see opportunities to streamline processes without sacrificing rigour.
The noble Baroness, Lady Bakewell, asked about adding to the list of substances. The UK has not added or rejected any substances for the candidate list of substances of very high concern. The HSE, just like the ECHA, will add to the candidate list periodically, not on a rolling basis. I will write to her with more details on microplastics, because she answered the one on facial products and beauty products, but I think we have more that we can say on that issue.
The noble Baroness, Lady Bennett, mentioned her concerns about the “no data, no market” principle still holding. UK REACH maintains this core principle, which is necessary. It is the means by which the regulator can check that companies are properly meeting their duty to ensure the safe management of chemicals. It provides assurance to the public that businesses understand the hazards and risks of the chemicals they are using and know how to manage them. It also gives the authorities information they can use to help identify and place controls on the use of dangerous chemicals.
A number of noble Lords mentioned non-regression and the worry that we would regress our standards, which I have answered in general terms. Since the UK is a world leader in the management and regulation of chemicals, there are no plans to diverge from EU REACH for the sake of it. The UK has established UK REACH, as it must, as its own independent chemicals regulatory regime. This will ensure that we can both take the best ideas from inside and outside the EU and act on the best available evidence and in the UK’s best interests when circumstances dictate.
Lastly, the noble Baroness, Lady Neville-Rolfe, made a number of constructive suggestions which might help the burden on small businesses. I am very happy to suggest that we discuss this in the department. But for the moment I hope that noble Lords are reassured and that the noble Lord, Lord Whitty, is able to withdraw his amendment.