Letters to the Editor...
Brexit article not realistic
Dear SPRAY Editor,
I was reading the December 2017 issue and came across the Brexit article by Cassandra Cassandra
Taylor, Regulatory Consultant, Nexreg Compliance Inc., London, ON, Canada (see December 2017, p. 30).
I have to be honest, it paints us in a very poor light and, as a UK manufacturer, it does us no favours in
winning American business.
As a UK manufacturer, many of the products we make are sold into the EU and to do so have to
be REACH (EU Registration, Evaluation, Authorization & Restriction of Chemicals) compliant. This
would not change following Brexit; products we make for retail in the EU would still have to be REACH
compliant.
To suggest that the UK may not follow the ECHA (European Chemicals Agency) REACH rules is ridiculous
and potentially damaging to our business. The reality is that the UK no longer manufacturers the
majority of the chemicals it uses, and for that reason, we have to buy chemicals from the EU. This would
be the same situation following Brexit—we still wouldn’t be able to make our own chemicals and therefore
by default we would have to buy REACH-registered chemicals from the EU.
The UK follows the REACH and CLP (EU Classification, Labeling & Packaging) regulations closer
than any other EU country and only in the UK can you 100% guarantee your packaging will be accepted
throughout the EU.
This article has done nothing but ensure American companies panic about their UK and EU sales;
if an actual UK manufacturer had been consulted as to what happens in the real world then you would
have found that while this article may be technically correct, it is unrealistic and not based on what will
actually happen.
We can’t manufacture chemicals so will have to buy REACH chemicals from the EU, Brexit or no
Brexit. The UK is the only country that will offer clear help on CLP labelling to American clients and
ensure that their products are accepted throughout the EU.
It is extremely frustrating for us, as a supplier, to be tackling this kind of press every day when a lot of it
just scare-mongering. Brexit does not bother us, what will happen, will happen, but realistically very little
will change and it’s about time the rest of the world stopped panicking about it and just let it happen.
Yours,
Bethany Todd
LMA
Pocklington, York, UK
http://www.aerosol.uk.com
SPRAY thanks Ms. Todd for her letter and for her point of view as an industry stakeholder directly affected by Brexit.
Spray welcomes all letters to the editor. They can be sent to: acaridad@spraytm.com
10 Spray January 2018