Consultation on Extending UK REACH Transitional Deadlines

13 August 2025

The UK Government has recently opened a new consultation on extending the UK REACH transitional registration deadlines,  running from 14th July to 8th September 2025.

This is due to the proposed UK REACH alternative transitional registration model (ATRm), which has not yet been finalised or implemented into legislation. As the current first UK REACH deadline is October 2026, it is now expected that the discussions around ATRm will not be finalised in time for the industry to act on any new requirements in time for the first deadline. The consultation is intended to gauge stakeholder interest in extending the deadlines further. 

UK REACH: Alternative Transitional Registration model (ATRm)

25 June 2025

UK REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation, and Restriction of Chemicals) was established post-Brexit to replace the EU REACH regulation. In May 2024 the Department of Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) proposed a significant change to the regulation, namely the Alternative Transitional Registration model (ATRm). The aim of the ATRm was to reduce the costs and complexity for companies by allowing them to register chemicals with less reliance on duplicating expensive EU REACH data, particularly vertebrate animal studies. A public consultaiton on the proposal was run from 16th May 2024 to 25th July 2024. Since the closure of the public consultation there has been no further communications from DEFRA on this matter.

At recent official events, DEFRA confirmed that they could not provide clarity on the future of the ATRm or any potential extension of the registration deadlines at this moment in time. DEFRA ask for patience and assure that an announcement will be made soon, within the year.

This means uncertainty for the industry. We recommend submitting inquiry dossiers where possible, as this provides visibility into which companies are in a substance group. Companies impacted by the first registration deadline should continue planning for it, but nothing should be submitted without clarity from DEFRA.

Aside from that, all the stakeholders can do is wait for DEFRA’s announcement. Please reach out to our experts if you have any questions.