Manufacturers and importers of chemicals: REACH responsibilities

If you manufacture, import, supply or use chemical substances in the UK, you must comply with REACH Regulations. Separate REACH systems now apply in Scotland and Northern Ireland, The specific requirements depend on:

where your business is based
where substances are placed on the market

Scotland – UK REACH

Businesses in Scotland must comply with UK REACH, which is managed by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). This system mirrors many aspects of EU REACH but operates independently.

What you must do

Register substances you manufacture or import into Great Britain (GB) at one tonne or more per year.
Use the comply with UK REACH service to submit data and complete registrations via HSE
Follow UK transitional deadlines for substances previously registered under EU REACH
Prepare a chemical safety report if manufacturing or importing more than 10 tonnes per year
Classify, label and package chemicals in line with GB CLP Regulations

Substance registration under UK REACH

You must register:

Existing substances, (known as transitional substances) if they were previously registered under EU REACH and are now used in GB. These require full data submission by the appropriate UK REACH deadline
New substances, which have not been previously registered in the UK or EU, must be registered before manufacture or import begins

HSE: UK REACH guidance

UK REACH registration deadlines (for transitional substances)

Deadline (last date for dossier submission)	Tonnage	Hazardous property
27 October 2026	1000 tonnes or more per year	Carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic for reproduction (CMRs) - 1 tonne or more per year Very toxic to aquatic organisms (acute or chronic) - 100 tonnes or more per year Candidate list substances (as at 31 December 2023)
27 October 2028	100 tonnes or more per year	Candidate list substances (as at 27 October 2026)
27 October 2030	1 tonne or more per year

You must register using the Comply with UK REACH online service - Comply with UK REACH: submit and manage chemical registrations and notifications - GOV.UK

Northern Ireland – EU REACH

EU REACH continues to apply in Northern Ireland. Businesses must meet all obligations of EU REACH, including registration with the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA).

What you must do

Register substances with the ECHA using the REACH-IT portal
Comply with EU REACH deadlines for both phase in and new substances
Participate in Substance Information Exchange Forums (SIEF’s) to avoid duplicating testing
Follow EU CLP regulations for labelling and packaging
Notify ECHA about hazardous substances placed on the market

EU REACH substance types

You must register:

Phase in substance: Existing substances listed on the European Inventory of Existing Commercial Chemical Substances (EINECS) inventory or meeting other qualifying criteria.
Non phase-in (new) substances: Substances not previously on the market in the EU before REACH entered into force.

ECHA: REACH Registration Guidance

UK and EU REACH

Joint registrations and data sharing

If you are registering a substance and there are other registrants of the same substance, you must jointly submit certain information about the intrinsic properties of that substance. By doing this you can:

avoid repeating studies
reduce costs to your business
avoid unnecessary testing on animals

Make a chemical inventory

For both UK and EU REACH, you should keep and maintain an up-to-date list of all substances your business:

Manufacture
Imports
Supplies
Uses

This will help identify which substances must be registered and which regulatory system applies.

Classification and labelling

If you supply chemical substances or mixtures, you must classify and label them in line with the relevant Classification, labelling and packaging (CLP) regulations:

In Scotland the GB CLP Regulations
In Northern Ireland the EU CLP Regulations

For more details see the classifying and labelling guidance on NetRegs.

Chemical safety assessment and report

If you manufacture or import more than 10 tonnes per year of a chemical substance (under either UK or EU REACH), you must:

Conduct a chemical safety assessment (CSA)
Submit a chemical safety report (CSR) as part of your registration

The CSA must cover:

Human health hazards
Physicochemical properties
Environmental impact
PBT (persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic) and vPvBs (very persistent and very bioaccumulative) assessments
Exposure assessment and risk characterisation (for some substances)

Good practice

Where possible follow the principles of Green Chemistry to minimise the environmental impacts of of your products both during production and when in use.

Principle of Green Chemistry:

Prevention
It is better to prevent waste than to treat or clean up waste after it has been created.
Atom Economy
Synthetic methods should be designed to maximize the incorporation of all materials used in the process into the final product.
Less Hazardous Chemical Syntheses
Wherever practicable, synthetic methods should be designed to use and generate substances that possess little or no toxicity to human health and the environment.
Designing Safer Chemicals
Chemical products should be designed to effect their desired function while minimizing their toxicity.
Safer Solvents and Auxiliaries
The use of auxiliary substances (e.g., solvents, separation agents, etc.) should be made unnecessary wherever possible and innocuous when used.
Design for Energy Efficiency
Energy requirements of chemical processes should be recognized for their environmental and economic impacts and should be minimized. If possible, synthetic methods should be conducted at ambient temperature and pressure.
Use of Renewable Feedstocks
A raw material or feedstock should be renewable rather than depleting whenever technically and economically practicable.
Reduce Derivatives
Unnecessary derivatization (use of blocking groups, protection/ deprotection, temporary modification of physical/chemical processes) should be minimized or avoided if possible, because such steps require additional reagents and can generate waste.
Catalysis
Catalytic reagents (as selective as possible) are superior to stoichiometric reagents.
Design for Degradation
Chemical products should be designed so that at the end of their function they break down into innocuous degradation products and do not persist in the environment.
Real-time analysis for Pollution Prevention
Analytical methodologies need to be further developed to allow for real-time, in-process monitoring and control prior to the formation of hazardous substances.
Inherently Safer Chemistry for Accident Prevention
Substances and the form of a substance used in a chemical process should be chosen to minimize the potential for chemical accidents, including releases, explosions, and fires.

Further information

Return to the menu of the Registration, evaluation, authorisation and restriction of chemicals (REACH) environmental topic