42 | Sector Focus: Coatings & Finishes
SUMMARY
■Britain is a net exporter of paints ■New post-Brexit customs procedures have had a negative impact
■The UK now has its own chemicals regime
■Exporters will still have to manufacture to EU standards
COATINGS SECTOR REMAINS RESILIENT
Sally Spencer spoke to British Coatings Federation chief executive officer, Tom Bowtell about the challenges and opportunities for the coatings and finishes sector
TTJ: HOW DOES THE INDUSTRY STAND NOW THAT THE UK HAS LEFT THE EU, PARTICULARLY WITH REGARD TO REGULATORY CHALLENGES? Tom Bowtell: Despite companies spending large amounts of time and money preparing for Brexit they still encountered significant challenges when the new trading relationship between the UK and EU came into force. The British Coatings Federation (BCF) carried out two Brexit surveys of members, one at the end of January 2021 and the other at the end of June 2021, to track how they were getting on. The results showed that although companies had slowly got used to the new paperwork and processes, by June members were still being negatively impacted by new Rules of Origin, customs procedures, other new UK regulations, and having to deal with EU rules as a third country. A third of members estimated increased operating costs of between 5-10% due to Brexit, with another one-in-ten estimating more than 10%.
The UK now has its own chemicals regime and BCF continues to actively lobby for changes to the planned UK REACH system in particular. This effectively copies and pastes EU REACH into UK law – with the same requirements and resulting costs – despite the UK chemicals market being one-tenth the size of the EU’s, as well as being structurally different.
Above: Tom Bowtell is CEO of the British Coatings Federation TTJ | January/February 2022 |
www.ttjonline.com
The government has just recently agreed to look again at some key aspects of this and we are hopeful of securing meaningful changes. And, of course, those members who wish to export will still have to manufacture to EU standards, so all upcoming regulatory changes
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