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Commentary
These
Regulations are proposed to be made by the UK Government pursuant
to section 8(1) of, and paragraphs 1 and 7 of Schedule 4 and
paragraph 21(b) of Schedule 7 to, of the European Union
(Withdrawal) Act 2018.
This
instrument is made using powers in the European Union (Withdrawal)
Act 20181 (“the Withdrawal Act”) to address
deficiencies in retained EU law in relation to chemicals and
genetically modified organisms (GMOs) legislation arising from the
withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU).
This instrument ensures that UK chemicals and GMO regulations will
continue to operate effectively at the point at which the UK leaves
the EU (“Exit”). This instrument does not make any
policy changes beyond the intent of ensuring continued operability
of the relevant legislation.
As
directly applicable European Regulations, requiring no
transposition into UK law, the BPR, CLP and PIC Regulations will be
retained under the arrangements offered in Section 3(1) of the
Withdrawal Act. The instrument makes corrections to these
Regulations using the Withdrawal Act powers.
Due
to amendments to the CLP Regulation made in this instrument,
amendments are to be made to downstream legislation i.e.
legislation that sits ‘downstream’ of the CLP
Regulation, but which relies on hazard classification, in whole or
in part, to define its intended scope and to act as a
‘trigger’ for additional risk control measures. This is
to ensure that the downstream legislation continues to provide the
appropriate and necessary references to the CLP Regulation and
(where required) to the UK mandatory classification and labelling
list that the amended CLP Regulation provides for.
This
instrument also amends relevant regulations to address deficiencies
arising from the UK’s withdrawal from the EU to allow the
Health and Safety Executive to enforce provisions and to recover
costs for its work.
Legal
Advisers make the following comments in relation to the Welsh
Government’s statement dated 24 January 2019 regarding the
effect of these Regulations:
·
The
statement refers to the following secondary legislation to be
corrected: the Biocidal Products and Chemicals (Appointment of
Authorities and Enforcement) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2013;
the Explosives (Appointment of Authorities and Enforcement)
Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015; the Biocidal Products (Fees
and Charges) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015, and the
Genetically Modified Organisms (Contained Use) Regulations
(Northern Ireland) 2015. However, paragraph 4.2 of the Explanatory
Memorandum states that these instruments “…apply to
Northern Ireland only…”.
The
above summary and the content of the Explanatory Memorandum to
these Regulations confirm their effect.
Legal
Advisers do not consider that any significant issues arise under
paragraph 8 of the Memorandum on the European Union (Withdrawal)
Bill and the Establishment of Common Frameworks in relation to
these Regulations.
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