Updated UK REACH Agency fees enter into force on 1 April 2025

 The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has recently published the Statutory Instrument amending the UK REACH fees payable to the UK REACH Agency (The Health and Safety Executive). The Statutory Instrument (2025 No. 299), laid before Parliament on 10 March, will enter into force on 1 April 2025. 

The review of UK REACH fees is driven by the government’s intention to align the current fees (derived from EU REACH) to HM Treasury’s Public Money Guidance, which is based on cost recovery principles. As the intention is to adjust the fees to ensure costs best reflect the work carried out by the UK regulators in processing submissions from businesses, significant changes to the current fee levels have been made. 

These changes include the introduction of a flat standard registration fee of £2,222, leading to a significant reduction of registration fees for all tonnage bands, except for the 1-10 t/a band and for intermediates registrations. Discounts for SMEs continue to be applied, as these are mandated by the REACH legal text. The explanatory note linked to the Statutory Instrument also clarifies that grandfathered registrations will not incur in Agency registration fees. Dossier updates due to tonnage band increase will incur a flat standard fee of £2,222, with reduced fees applicable to SMEs. 

Authorisation fees are set to increase to reflect work done by EA, not just by HSE. For example, the base authorisation fee increases by £10,460 in the case of the standard fee, from £47,229 to £57,689). PPORD (Product and Process Oriented Research and Development) notification fee will increase fees by £276 from £475 to £751 (standard fee), while the cost for PPORD extensions will decrease from £949 to £751. The fee charged for a change of identity/legal personality will reduce from £1,424 to £290. 

The new fees are modelled over a 6-year period, commencing from 1 April 2025 and ending on 31 March 2031.

For further details, please refer to the legislation, explanatory note and a table comparing current and proposed new fees:

 

Statutory Instrument 2025 No. 299

 

Explanatory Memorandum

 

REACH fee table comparing current and new fees

 

For any questions related to the new UK REACH fee regime, Gold subscribers can contact the REACHReady’s helpdesk.