Official Report: Minutes of Evidence

The Chairperson (Ms Ferguson): I welcome Mark McGregor, head of the trade and Windsor framework branch of the Department for the Economy; and Dr Jennifer Stewart, head of the firearms and explosives branch of the Department of Justice. I ask you to brief the Committee, when you are ready.

Mr Mark McGregor (Department for the Economy): Thank you, Chair. Good morning, everybody. Thank you for inviting us back to give evidence on the adopted regulation. I will lead the evidence for DFE, providing Committee members with a brief overview of the regulation.

Today, we are referring to regulation (EU) 2025/2439 amending regulation (EU) 2024/2865 as regards dates of application and transitional provisions. We have been advised by the Health and Safety Executive of Great Britain, which provides us with technical and scientific support in these areas, that there have been no significant changes to the final measures from the original proposal. The changes that exist are a few minor wording amendments. The contents of the original explanatory memorandum (EM) for the proposal, provided by the UK Government, are therefore still relevant.

We have been advised that the bottom line on the textual differences is that there is no change to the policy intent to defer specific classification, labelling and packaging (CLP) obligations to 1 January 2028. There are some changes to the structural drafting. The proposal's idea to add a paragraph 5a to align the voluntary application date is now in the adopted text as a new numbered transitional derogation, article 2(6), with precise lists and a cut-off date of 31 December 2027. There have also been some minor recital editorial tweaks, such as changing the wording from "fuelling stations" to "filling stations".

The regulation overall forms part of the sixth omnibus package, which aims to simplify the EU's chemicals legislation by decreasing compliance costs and administrative procedures for businesses across the chemicals supply chain whilst continuing to maintain a high level of protection. The regulation amends regulation 2024/2865 on classification, labelling and packaging. That regulation was subject to an inquiry by the Committee, with the report published on 19 December 2024. That regulation, which is being amended, amended the main CLP regulation. The CLP regulation imposes requirements on manufacturers, importers, downstream users and distributors to classify and label their chemicals in accordance with an internationally agreed system, the United Nations Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS).

The regulation defers the application date of measures introduced by that regulation in a range of areas. It removes the provision setting time limits for relabelling, advertising, distance sales and measures relating to the labelling of fuel pumps set out in annex II. It removes certain provisions from annex I on mandatory formatting requirements from the list of provisions that will apply as of 1 January 2027. It defers application dates for article 30, which is on updating labels following a change in chemical classification or labelling; articles 48 and 48a, which are on hazard communication rules for advertisements and distance sales offers; part 5 of annex II, which is on fuel station label requirements; and article 31(3) and various sections of annex I on mandatory formatting requirements. The amendments are part of a wider simplification package adopted by the European Commission on 8 July 2025 to strengthen the competitiveness and modernisation of the EU chemicals sector.

The assessment of impact remains unchanged from that in the original papers. It appears unlikely that the application of the proposed replacement act would have any significant impact specific to the everyday life of communities here in a way that is liable to persist. Deferring the application date will provide businesses with more time to adapt to the changes. However, the overall effect of the simplification package and measures that may come later means that those measures will no longer apply, resulting in cost savings for businesses that are regulated under the EU CLP regulation.

That concludes my brief review of the evidence. I will pass to Jennifer, if she has any further comments.

Dr Jennifer Stewart (Department of Justice): The Department of Justice has responsibility for explosives for civil use. That is our only area on this, and Mark and DFE are in the lead. Therefore, I have nothing to add to what Mark has said.

The Chairperson (Ms Ferguson): Thank you, Jennifer and Mark. I open it to members for questions.

Dr Aiken: I have a couple of questions. Thanks very much for coming in.

When this goes through, how different will it be from the legislation in the rest of the UK: Scotland, Wales and England?

Mr McGregor: The effect here will be to retain parity with those areas in Great Britain. If the changes had come in in 2027 and 2028, that is when there would have been a difference between GB and NI. The effect now is that those changes will not come in, so there will not be a difference in those areas. Originally when you reviewed this, there was a regulation 17(a) that travelled with it. When it comes through later, it should permanently disapply them so that that divergence will not happen. This is not creating a divergence but ensuring that we maintain parity in these six areas.

Dr Aiken: Is that parity with the rest of the UK?

Mr McGregor: Yes, because we are not adopting the changes. If the changes had come in, there would have been minor differences, but the changes are no longer coming in.

Dr Aiken: OK. We are compliant with EU CLP regulations, but the EU CLP regulations are the same as the regulations in the rest of the UK: is that what you are saying?

Mr McGregor: There is a slight difference. There are some differences that happened before your review. There are differences in relation to hazard classes that came in previously, but these are additional differences that would have been added and are now not being added. Therefore, the additional divergence is not going to take place.

Dr Aiken: So we are not going to have to slap two sets of hazard markings on everything: UK ones and EU ones.

Mr McGregor: No. The Northern Ireland ones will be acceptable in the GB market as well.

Dr Aiken: Thanks.

The Chairperson (Ms Ferguson): Do any other members, including those online, have any questions? No. Everybody seems to be content.

Thank you, Mark and Jennifer, for your evidence this morning. It is much appreciated.