UK REACH regulation and registration deadlines for GB importers
UK REACH applies in Great Britain, with eligible transitional deadlines in 2029–2031. Check registration, DUIN and Only Representative duties now.
The UK REACH regulation applies in Great Britain: England, Scotland and Wales, while EU REACH continues to apply in Northern Ireland. Eligible transitional registrants have dossier deadlines of 27 October 2029, 2030 or 2031.
Manufacturing or importing a substance at one tonne or more per year generally requires registration. Exemptions and special provisions can change that position. The extended dates are not blanket permission for every new importer to wait until 2029, as HSE's new registration guidance explains. Identify your route before you take the latest date in the table below.
What differs from EU REACH after Brexit?
For market access, GB and Northern Ireland need separate checks. HSE states that UK REACH regulates chemicals placed on the market in GB, while EU REACH still applies in Northern Ireland. An EU registration does not automatically settle your GB registration duties. Use HSE's territorial guidance to establish which regime applies to the supply.
Your supply-chain role can also differ between the two regimes. Downstream user import notification (DUIN) provisions address certain former GB downstream users and distributors who became importers after transition. A company without that substance-specific history cannot assume the same protection. The relevant conditions appear in Article 127E.
The official Comply with UK REACH service distinguishes new registration, downstream user import notification and Northern Ireland notifications. They are different routes, not interchangeable forms.
Check the substance, legal entity and tonnage
The registration threshold is one tonne or more, not more than one tonne. Article 6 applies to a substance on its own or in mixtures, unless another provision applies. HSE applies the duty per substance and per legal entity.
For a mixture, aggregate each constituent substance across that legal entity's imports, including the same substance in several mixtures. Do not test the whole mixture weight against the one-tonne line. Use HSE's registration guidance for that substance-level account.
Below one tonne, the Article 6 registration trigger may not be met. Other UK REACH duties can remain, as HSE's guidance explains. Keep those checks separate.
Before treating your business as the registrant, check whether a GB Only Representative covers the imports. Under Article 8, covered importers are regarded as downstream users.
UK REACH deadlines now run from 2029 to 2031
The deadline extension is law. The REACH (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2026, SI 2026/849, came into force on 6 August 2026. They replaced the former 2026, 2028 and 2030 dates with the dates below. The controlling sources are the amending instrument and consolidated Article 127P.
A Defra consultation response updated on 22 December 2025 still calls 2029, 2030 and 2031 a preferred option against the old dates. That page predates the instrument. It is not the operative rule.
Use the earliest applicable deadline. A Candidate List entry, or a hazard classification, can require an earlier date than tonnage alone would suggest.
| Deadline | Transitional categories |
|---|---|
| 27 October 2029 | Candidate List substances included under Article 59(1A), or added on or before 27 October 2027; carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic to reproduction, category 1A or 1B, at ≥1 tonne/year; aquatic acute 1 or aquatic chronic 1 substances at ≥100 tonnes/year; all substances at ≥1,000 tonnes/year |
| 27 October 2030 | Substances added to the Candidate List from 28 October 2027 to 27 October 2028, other than substances included under Article 59(1A); substances at ≥100 tonnes/year unless an earlier category applies |
| 27 October 2031 | Remaining substances at ≥1 tonne/year |
These categories come from Article 127P. The tonnage test is a yearly quantity per manufacturer or importer, reached at least once after IP completion day. Don't allocate a deadline from this year's forecast alone.
The extension concerns specified transitional information obligations, including those linked to protected transitional imports. It does not reopen every historical notification deadline. HSE's DUIN page confirms the new dates, but eligibility must still be checked separately.
Who can use a DUIN?
HSE explicitly says a DUIN is not a pre-registration. Eligibility depends on your role for the particular substance during the two years before 1 January 2021. Being a chemical trader before Brexit is not enough by itself. See HSE's eligibility guidance.
If that history fits, HSE says the registration duty is deferred until 27 October 2029, 2030 or 2031, according to the categories in the table above. HSE also says that, once a DUIN is submitted, you need not register unless you want to keep importing that notified substance after the applicable date. Qualifying former GB downstream users and distributors can use this route. So can some downstream users previously covered by an EU Only Representative. A GB Only Representative can notify for an eligible importer, but cannot create missing historical eligibility.
The original notification deadline was 27 October 2021. HSE says an eligible business can still submit a DUIN if it wants to keep importing an EU REACH registered substance at one tonne or more, and should do so as soon as possible. Do not treat acceptance of a late notification as clearance for earlier imports. Article 127E still requires notification within the 300-day post-IP completion period.
Supply-chain conditions also matter. A protected import needs an EU registrant or downstream-user supplier, or a qualifying EU Only Representative chain, for the substance as imported. A different supplier can still qualify. So can a different manufacturer, formulator or producer in that EU OR chain. Article 127E allows the change, and paragraph 9 requires an information update. A DUIN alone is not permission to import outside those conditions. See Article 127E, including paragraphs 2, 4, 5 and 9.
What if you need a new UK REACH registration?
HSE says an Article 26 inquiry is the first step of any new registration. If a new registration is required and DUIN does not apply, HSE's default is complete registration before GB manufacture or import reaches one tonne per year. A new business cannot simply select the 2031 deadline. Follow HSE's new registration process.
Registration and submission of the full information package can have different deadlines. For a previously EU-registered substance newly manufactured or imported by the applicant, HSE says full information submission may be deferred. HSE informs the applicant after a successful inquiry. Registration is still required. A possible data deferral does not confer DUIN eligibility or permission to remain unregistered until 2029. See HSE's explanation of previously EU-registered substances.
Can an Only Representative cover your imports?
A non-GB manufacturer, mixture formulator or article producer can appoint a GB-established Only Representative under Article 8. An ordinary overseas distributor is not one of the appointing categories listed there. An EU REACH OR appointment alone is not a UK REACH appointment. It can still matter under Article 127E, as a supply-chain condition for a protected transitional import.
The OR needs practical expertise and current information on quantities, customers and safety data sheets. Importers covered by a valid appointment are regarded as downstream users. Check that the appointment covers the imports you rely on, not merely that the supplier uses an OR somewhere.
Grandfathering has separate eligibility rules
Grandfathering concerns qualifying existing EU registrations with a current or relevant past GB connection. An EU-based legal entity cannot have its EU registration recognised under UK REACH. A GB entity that transferred an EU registration to an EU entity after 29 March 2017, and before the transition period ended, can qualify. Check HSE's grandfathering guidance and Article 127A.
The initial information deadline was 30 April 2021. HSE says information can still be submitted and should be provided as soon as possible. The extended 2029–2031 dates concern remaining information, not that original submission deadline. Don't treat acceptance of a late submission as retrospective legal clearance. See HSE's instructions and Article 127B.
Put the correct route into your importer plan
Build the compliance record around each substance and legal entity:
- Aggregate constituent-substance quantities across mixtures, using HSE's registration guidance.
- Confirm whether your role is importer or an OR-covered downstream user under Article 8.
- Check DUIN eligibility, supply-chain conditions and notification updates against Article 127E.
- For a new registration, start the Article 26 inquiry and confirm any information deferral with HSE.
- Allocate the earliest transitional deadline from hazard classification, Candidate List status and tonnage after IP completion day under Article 127P.
RegAffairs AI provides a cited answer on UK REACH for chemical importers. For submissions, use the official Comply with UK REACH service.
If the supply involves Northern Ireland, use HSE's separate guidance. That notification route covers qualifying Northern Ireland goods with a relevant connection to Northern Ireland. Shipping goods through Northern Ireland does not create it.