UKPIA (UK Petroleum Industry Association) has warned that exiting the EU without a deal could put the fuel supply chain at risk.

The warning came after the Government published a Technical Notice on “Regulating Chemicals (REACH) if there is no Brexit Deal”.

REACH is the set of regulations overseeing chemicals within the EU, and UK petroleum companies have around 500 licences for registration of substances, the largest number of any EU member state.

In a statement UKPIA said: “The proposals made in the Technical Notice for REACH present risks to the fuel supply chain. We understand there will be duplicate registrations for the proposed UK replacement for REACH, and significant changes to how oil companies have to register their fuels for sale in the EEA – not least in having to have an EEA-based affiliate in order to maintain market access.

“Free movement of feedstock, intermediates and finished products between the UK and the EU is essential to ensure smooth operation of the supply chain. Such measures implied as necessary by the Technical Notice will not be necessary in a negotiated scenario, yet represent major and potentially onerous changes to current business practice.”

A UKPIA spokesperson added: “While Government has set out measures that will give some transition time even in a ‘no deal’ scenario, this notice underlines the need for a continuing close relationship with the EEA [European Economic Area] and ECHA [European Chemicals Agency] on chemicals safety policy, and serves to reinforce our preference for maintaining existing REACH arrangements and their further extension to other countries outside the EEA.”