The UK needs a national Chemicals Agency - join the RSC's call for politicians to end regulatory chaos
The Royal Society of Chemistry has today published a report urging the next UK government to establish a dedicated national Chemicals Agency to overhaul the country's broken chemicals regulation and management system.
Our report, The case for a national Chemicals Agency, shines a spotlight on the current system, which is inefficient, poor value for money and lacks long-term planning - and warns of detrimental impacts for industry and the UK’s global standing.
Three complementary solutions are proposed within the report and on our dedicated Chemicals Agency webpage. Each initiative would offer distinct benefits to science in the UK, with the establishment of a national Chemicals Agency dubbed the 'gold standard' for a future national chemicals regime.
Rather than waiting for a chemicals crisis to happen, we want the next government to get proactive. The report notes how it has previously taken national tragedies to establish necessary regulatory agencies, pointing to the fact the Food Standards Agency was only established in the wake of the ‘mad cow disease’ BSE disaster.
The proposed Chemicals Agency would ultimately serve as a safeguard for human health and the environment, while creating a simpler system for business. It would use the best science and evidence to assess the intrinsic properties and hazards of chemicals over their life cycle, and share that knowledge with relevant regulatory authorities and policymakers in the UK and internationally.
Our report comes as evidence continues to mount of the risks to health and the environment posed by chemical substances if they are not well managed – from ‘forever chemicals’ like PFAS to heavy metals and herbicides.
RSC president Professor Gill Reid said: “Put simply, our regulatory regime for chemicals is just not good enough. We need a unified approach to chemicals regulation, just as we already benefit from a national agency to oversee food standards and a national regulator of health products and medicines.
“Under the current system, responsibility falls on a number of different under-resourced government departments and agencies leading to duplicated efforts, fragmentation and confusion.
"With the general election only weeks away we are calling on the next government to grasp this moment to streamline chemicals regulation by establishing a dedicated national agency."
We believe such an agency could be cost neutral as the estimated annual operating costs of approximately £30 million could be covered by revenue generation and through cost savings attributable to the existing budgets of other departments and bodies.
We have also presented 'silver' and 'bronze' standards that could support the delivery of the current GB chemicals regime or work alongside a new Chemicals Agency, in the form of a national Centre for Chemicals and Risk Research, and a cross-governmental chemicals regulation training and networking programme respectively.
How can you help?
There are several ways you can push the case for a national Chemicals Agency:
- Share our dedicated Chemicals Agency page.
- Write to your local politicians today with our General Election asks using our pre-prepared form.
- Download our report and share it with your friends, family and professional network.
- Share the facts with our compact explainer.
- Raise the issue on social media using the hashtag #NoTimeToWaste and tagging our RSC accounts.
Stephanie Metzger, one of our policy advisors, commented: “A huge challenge we face is that current chemicals regulations are a minefield for businesses. From a lack of clarity around the data requirements needed to register chemicals, to supply chain issues and barriers to market access following Brexit, our businesses are grappling with regulatory chaos.
“We urgently need a more supportive regulatory environment for businesses. Not only would this nurture existing businesses, but it would also allow emerging technologies to flourish and protect the UK’s heritage as a home of pioneering science.”
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are the bedrock of the chemicals innovation ecosystem, developing transformational breakthroughs in everything from sustainable energy to personalised medicine and the early detection of diseases.
Chemistry SMEs are almost twice as likely as the average SME to invest in research, development and innovation, according to the UK Innovation Survey. However, they face significant sector-specific challenges such as long product development times and high initial investment needs. The complex regulatory landscape in the UK adds yet another hurdle that could be avoided.
We are therefore calling on the next government to take six immediate actions:
- Release the long-awaited Chemicals Strategy
- Commence negotiations for access to ECHA chemicals data
- Provide a timeline for UK REACH reform and the likely new registration, evaluation, authorisation and restriction of chemicals processes
- Immediately fund a programme of short training courses for civil servants
- Commit to a National Chemicals Research and Risk Institute (CCRR)
- Commit to a National Chemicals Agency
To view 'The case for a national Chemicals Agency' report and find out more information, read our special new webpage here.