Overview
Steptoe's recent Chemical Reactions: UK Chemicals Conference, held in Manchester in partnership with the Chemical Industries Association (CIA), brought together regulators, legal specialists, and industry leaders to discuss the future of UK chemicals regulation post-Brexit. Topics included PFAS litigation, UK REACH reform, and the government’s proposed Alternative Transitional Registration Model (ATRm).
Coverage of the event appeared in Chemical Watch, The ENDS Report, and other outlets, highlighting key insights from Steptoe lawyers and government officials.
In The ENDS Report, Steptoe partner Anthony G. Hopp shared litigation insights from the US, informing UK companies to proactively phase out PFAS: "If you’re still using these products, and you can phase them out, you should. Because it'll lead to fewer cases in the future hopefully."
Steptoe senior associate Zanda Romata added: "Usually when more scrutiny arises [around] the particular issue, most likely that it results in more litigation. We need to follow what’s happening in the US, in Europe – they can give indications where the UK may be heading."
In Chemical Watch, Steptoe associate Tom Gillett commented on the UK's proposed removal of a prerequisite for SVHC listing under UK REACH: "We anticipate that the removal of the current [SVHC] policy would likely lead to more alignment with the EU, albeit without necessarily full or dynamic alignment."
Read more about the conference coverage here:
