Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure that there is no duplication of animal testing for chemical registrations in the event that the UK leaves the EU without an agreement.

We are determined that there should be no need for any additional animal testing for a chemical that has already been registered to EU Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) if the UK leaves the EU without a deal. In such a scenario, the UK system that we will put in place (UK REACH) will retain the ‘last resort principle’ – that companies can only use animal testing as a last resort.

We have also ensured that under UK REACH the information requirements would be the same as under EU REACH. Businesses will therefore be able to confirm their registrations by submitting the same technical information that was required by EU REACH.