BPIF chief executive Charles Jarrold said he was relieved that an agreement had been reached, and the spectre of a drastic no-deal Brexit had been avoided. 

“It is really good news that we have an agreement. We can all discuss whether that puts us in a better or worse position than where we were before, but I think it was vital that we got an agreement,” he said.

“I genuinely believe that this gives us a platform to redevelop our relationship with the EU, and it will involve a lot more discussion and more mini-agreements. But it gives us a platform which is significantly better than no-deal. Whatever your view on Brexit, that is a lot better than it might have been.”

Meanwhile, the British Coatings Federation (BCF) has warned that the new UK REACH chemicals regulations could results in manufacturers having to change their formulations due to the onerous costs of compliance, which are estimated at more than £1bn across the industry.

While the BCF also welcomed the eleventh-hour FTA, chief executive Tom Bowtell described the deal as “extremely ‘thin’ and basic”.

“The reality is this is a ‘hard’ Brexit, with significant extra costs and burdens placed on UK industry as a result. BCF members and businesses across the country will still have to deal with new customs and borders controls, as well as delays to goods and raw materials caused by those additional procedures,” he stated.

The new UK REACH regulation came into force on 1 January, and in its initial form is exactly the same as EU REACH legislation, which the BCF said was “widely regarded as being one of the most – if not the most – burdensome in the world”.

Because there is no data sharing agreement in the FTA regarding chemicals, all chemical substances will need to be entered into the new UK REACH database, and UK companies exporting to the EU will have to comply with both UK and EU REACH.

Bowtell called on the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) to urgently review the situation.

“In particular, we have serious concerns about the way UK REACH will duplicate the onerous EU REACH, despite the UK chemicals market being only a tenth of the size of the EU. The FTA negotiations failed to secure a data sharing agreement on chemicals. We now either need to see further negotiations in 2021 to try and reach that data sharing agreement as an ‘add-on’ or Defra will need to urgently review how UK REACH is going to work,” he added.

Bowtell said that if the current situation persisted it would cost businesses  including “downstream users” like those in the coatings, printing inks and wallcoverings sectors, “over a billion pounds with absolutely zero added benefits. We will continue, as a matter of priority, to make this case for change into 2021”.

Separately, the Confederation of Paper Industries (CPI) also flagged concerns about barriers to trade.

Director general Andrew Large commented: “CPI welcomes the free trade agreement between the UK and EU, especially as it removed the threat of immediate tariffs on input materials to the paper making and converting processes.

“Nevertheless we remain concerned about the impact of the new non-tariff barriers to trade between the UK and EU and we will be monitoring the situation closely. The UK needs more than ever to be an attractive location for inward investment if our economy is to grow, and our challenge to government is to work with business to build and showcase the benefits of investing here.”

The government has set up an online ‘Brexit checker’ as part of its ‘Check. Change. Go’ campaign where individuals and businesses can access tailored information and action lists based on different situations.