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What is UK REACH?
UK REACH is the chemical regulation that has applied in Great Britain since 1 January 2021. It requires anyone manufacturing or importing a substance at one tonne or more per year to register it with the Health and Safety Executive, with a data package proportionate to the volume placed on the market.
- Full name
- Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals — as retained in GB law by the REACH etc. (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019
- In force
- 1 January 2021
- Territory
- Great Britain — England, Scotland and Wales. Northern Ireland remains under EU REACH.
- Regulator
- Health and Safety Executive (HSE), as the GB Agency, with the Environment Agency and its devolved equivalents on environmental matters. Policy sits with Defra.
- Submission route
- The HSE "Comply with UK REACH" service
- Registration trigger
- 1 tonne or more per legal entity per substance per calendar year
- Transitional deadlines
- 27 October 2029, 2030 and 2031 — see the timeline
Why it exists separately from EU REACH
When the UK left the EU, it lost access to the ECHA registration database and to the legal machinery of EU REACH. Rather than write a new chemicals law, the government copied EU REACH into domestic law and swapped the institutions: ECHA became the HSE, the European Commission became the Secretary of State, and the EU-wide registration pool became an empty GB database that industry has to refill.
That last point is the whole story. The rules of UK REACH are close to EU REACH. The data is not shared. An EU registration number gives you nothing in Great Britain unless it has been formally brought across — which is what grandfathering and DUIN were designed to do.
The one sentence that matters
UK REACH is not a copy of your EU obligation. It is a second, parallel obligation covering the same substance, owed to a different regulator, evidenced by a separate file.
The "no data, no market" principle
UK REACH puts the burden of proof on industry, not on government. The regulator does not have to demonstrate a substance is dangerous before restricting it. You have to demonstrate it can be used safely before selling it.
In practice this means that if you cannot produce the data set your tonnage band demands, you may not lawfully place the substance on the GB market — regardless of how long you have been selling it, or how well understood it is elsewhere.
The four duties it creates
The acronym describes four distinct regulatory processes. Only the first is something you initiate; the other three happen to you.
Registration
You compile and submit a dossier for each substance at or above one tonne a year. No registration, no market access. What the dossier contains →
Evaluation
HSE checks dossiers for compliance and examines substances of concern. It can demand more data, and it can reject a registration that does not stand up.
Authorisation
Substances of very high concern are placed on a GB candidate list and can move to an authorisation list, after which specific use requires named permission.
Restriction
Conditions or outright bans on the manufacture, placing on the market or use of a substance. Applies whether or not you hold a registration.
How the four pillars interlock →
Who is bound by it
UK REACH assigns duties by role, not by industry. Determining your role is the first analytical step in any compliance project, because two companies handling identical material can owe completely different obligations.
| Role | Definition | Registration duty |
|---|---|---|
| GB manufacturer | Produces a substance within Great Britain | Yes, at ≥1 t/y |
| GB importer | Brings a substance into GB from anywhere outside it — including the EU and Northern Ireland | Yes, at ≥1 t/y |
| Only Representative | A GB entity appointed by a non-GB manufacturer to take on importer duties | Yes — it relieves the importer. Detail |
| Downstream user | Uses a substance in an industrial or professional activity, buying it inside GB | No, but must use it within registered conditions |
| Distributor | Stores and places on the market for others, without using it | No, unless also importing |
Full detail on scope and roles →
Northern Ireland is not covered
This trips up more companies than any other single point. Under the Windsor Framework, Northern Ireland continues to apply EU REACH. Great Britain applies UK REACH. The consequences:
- Moving goods from GB into NI is placing them on an EU REACH market.
- Moving goods from NI into GB counts as an import and can trigger a UK REACH registration duty.
- A single UK-wide business may need to hold both registrations for the same substance.
- The "qualifying Northern Ireland goods" arrangements affect movement, not the underlying registration obligation.
What UK REACH does not do
Registration is frequently confused with permission. It is not. A registration confirms you have supplied the required data and paid the fee. It is not a safety endorsement, it does not approve a specific use, and it does not protect you from a later restriction on the same substance.
Nor does UK REACH cover everything chemical. Classification and labelling run under GB CLP, a separate regulation. Biocides, plant protection products, cosmetics, medicines, food contact materials and detergents each have their own GB regimes that sit alongside UK REACH rather than inside it.
Where to go next
Reflects the extension of transitional registration deadlines to 27 October 2029, 2030 and 2031. We update this page when HSE or Defra changes the position; if you need certainty on a specific substance, ask us.