The Hazardous Substances and Packaging (Legislative Functions and Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020

Transitional provision: renewal of exemptions

10.—(1) In this regulation—

(a) a “relevant exemption” means an exemption in Table 1 in Schedule A2 to the 2012 Regulations (“the table”) in respect of which either—

(i) in the entry in the table, in the column headed “expiry date or status”, it states “transitional case”(1); or

(ii) paragraph (i) does not apply but, before IP completion day, an application has been made to the European Commission for renewal of the corresponding EU exemption;

(b) “the corresponding EU exemption”, in relation to an exemption in the table, means the exemption in Annex 3 or 4 to Directive 2011/65/EC with the number specified in the fourth column of the entry in the table for that exemption.

(2) No application may be made to the Secretary of State for the renewal of a relevant exemption.

(3) If an expiry date is specified in the entry in the table for a relevant exemption, that expiry date does not apply.

(4) A relevant exemption remains in force until the Secretary of State makes a determination under paragraph (5) or (6), and thereafter regulation 7(3) or (4) applies.

(5) The Secretary of State must determine whether or not to renew a relevant exemption if the European Commission has published a decision whether to renew the corresponding EU exemption.

(6) Where, in relation to a relevant exemption, the European Commission has not published a decision whether to renew the corresponding EU exemption, the Secretary of State may, at any time, determine on the Secretary of State’s own initiative whether to renew the relevant exemption.

(7) When making a determination under paragraph (5) or (6), the Secretary of State must take into account—

(a) any publicly available information about the application for renewal of the corresponding EU exemption; and

(b) if the European Commission has published its decision on that application, that decision.

(8) Where the Secretary of State proposes to make a determination under paragraph (5) which has substantially the same effect as the European Commission’s decision in relation to the corresponding EU exemption—

(a) the Secretary of State may treat the requirements in paragraphs (2) to (5) of regulation 5 as satisfied, without considering or determining any of those matters; and

(b) the Secretary of State is not required to consult before making the determination, or (if the determination is to renew the exemption) before making any regulations to give effect to the determination.

(9) Except where paragraph (8) applies, before making a determination under paragraph (5) or (6) the Secretary of State must consult such persons as the Secretary of State considers appropriate.

(1)

In respect of all the entries in the table for which the entry in column 5 states “transitional case”, an application was made to the European Commission for renewal of the corresponding EU exemption on or before 17th April 2020, and had not been determined by the European Commission at that date.