Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 11
11
Accepted
On leaving the EU, the regulators lost access to EU data sharing and cooperation arrangements.
Recommendation
On leaving the EU, the regulators lost access to EU data sharing and cooperation arrangements. CMA can no longer share confidential information with the European Commission or member states in merger, competition or consumer enforcement cases.28 FSA has also lost full access to the EU’s Rapid Alert System on Food and Feed (RASFF) which provides member states with information on food safety incidents. It no longer has access to ‘real time’ data on all incidents, receiving information only on UK-relevant alerts by email. These changes have increased the time and effort required to deal with food safety incidents, with FSA estimating it requires around 65% more staff resource to deliver the same international information exchange on food safety incidents now than it did before.29 HSE no longer has access to the chemical safety data underpinning the EU’s Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) regulations. Industry has estimated it will cost £800 million to replicate this data in the UK REACH system.30
Government Response Summary
The FSA and HSE will write to the Committee in six months setting out progress in taking forward the cooperation arrangements set out in the Trade and Cooperation Agreement.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
4. PAC conclusion: The loss of access to EU systems and lack of progress in taking forward the regulatory cooperation provisions set out in the Trade and Cooperation Agreement increase regulatory risks and costs. 4. PAC recommendation: The regulators should work together to share good practice on mitigations to address the loss of regulatory cooperation arrangements with the EU and write to the Committee in six months setting out progress in taking forward the cooperation arrangements set out in the Trade and Cooperation Agreement. FSA Response 4.1 The FSA agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: April 2023 4.2 The FSA continues to provide input into discussions on the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) between the UK and the EU which are led by DEFRA as the agri-food lead for trade. 4.3 The FSA has formal engagement with EU institutions under the TCA via DEFRA. The FSA exchanges scientific evidence and risk assessment and discusses upcoming regulatory changes and emerging issues in this forum. The FSA has provided technical expertise for discussions on Live Bivalve Molluscs and Chilled Meats and the EU’s import conditions and procedures for these products. 4.4 The FSA will write to the Committee in April 2023 to provide an update on progress on its overall engagement and cooperation with the EU. CMA Response 4.5 The CMA agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: April 2023 4.6 The CMA’s ability to tackle anti-competitive mergers and anti-competitive practices was enhanced when the UK competition authorities were, pre-Exit, able to share confidential information on cases with the European Commission and with national competition authorities in the EU Member States. That ability ceased as a result of exit from the EU, but the UK/EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement of December 2020 envisaged it being restored under a UK/EU competition cooperation agreement, which would be to the benefit of effective competition enforcement and merger control in both the UK and the EU (and thereby consumers, businesses and the wider economy). However, such a UK/EU competition cooperation agreement has not yet been reached. 4.7 Pending such an agreement, the CMA continues to seek to mitigate the loss of formal cooperation arrangements with its EU counterparts, and to maintain a constructive and collaborative relationship with its EU partners. As identified in the National Audit Office’s report, this has included launching high-profile cases in parallel with the European Commission. 4.8 The CMA is strongly in favour of establishing a formal competition cooperation agreement, as envisaged by the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, and stands ready to assist the Government in achieving this rapidly whenever it becomes possible to do so. 4.9 In the meantime, the CMA agrees that there is merit in sharing good practice between the regulators highlighted in the report, and also other bodies with an adjacent role to its own. The CMA is committed to doing so and is happy to provide an update on this topic when it writes to update the Committee in six months. HSE Response 4.10 The HSE agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: April 2023 4.11 HSE continues to provide input into discussions on the Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the UK and the EU. On 24 October 2022 HSE supported the second annual Technical Barriers to Trade Specialised Committee meeting. The UK and the EU exchanged regulatory updates and welcomed continued cooperation in the United Nations Globally Harmonized System (GHS) of classification and labelling of chemicals, for which HSE acts as the UK Head of Delegation. 4.12 HSE continues to work with regulators both within the UK and internationally to cooperate on chemicals regulatory outcomes. On 1 November 2022, the Chemicals (Health and Safety) Trade and Miscellaneous Amendments Regulations 2022 came into force. Amongst other things, these regulations made provision for the exchange of regulatory information on chemicals between HSE and those countries which are part of the European Free Trade Area (EFTA) and the European Economic Area (EEA), Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway (as part of the Free Trade Agreement between the UK and those countries). HSE is also exploring potential opportunities to share chemicals regulatory information with other global authorities, for example, Australia. 4.13 HSE will write to the Committee in April 2023 to provide an update on progress on co- operation arrangements with the EU for chemicals regulation.