Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 12
12
Accepted
The regulators told us they are taking action to mitigate issues around access to data.
Recommendation
The regulators told us they are taking action to mitigate issues around access to data. For example, in competition and consumer law enforcement, CMA can investigate itself and use its own powers to gather information.31 Despite no longer being able to share confidential data, it also told us that it has good working relationships with the European Commission and has launched three cases in parallel.32 To monitor food safety, FSA has developed a horizon-scanning data application that extracts information on food safety incidents from open-data sources. It told us the tool has helped it identify 27 food safety incidents, including listeria in some mushroom imports.33 However, it told us this does not compensate in full and managing food incidents is more work than it was before.34 HSE explained it is working closely with the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra), which is responsible for Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals policy, to find a solution to the loss of data from EU REACH that will cost significantly less than the industry estimates for replicating the data. It also told us that in general, the core safety data it needs to assess chemicals safety is available from public sources and data it already holds.35 However, we received written evidence from Green Alliance raising concerns that Defra’s proposals to take a more risk-based approach to the data requirements (based on usage and exposure data in a UK context) are the result of efforts to reduce the costs involved rather than any benefits to human health and the environment.36
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.