The British Coatings Federation (BCF) said that in December of last year a legislative proposal was laid before Parliament to strengthen controls on gamma butyrolactone (GBL) and 1,4-butanediol (BDO) “with the intention to reduce misuse of these substance”, with controls including a strict licensing regime for legitimate industrial uses.
The two substances can be converted to GHB on ingestion and as well as causing accidental death have been used in numerous crimes, leading to the Class B drug reclassification.
However, the scale of the likely impact is only just coming to light, with the new licensing system set to come into effect on 15 June. Licences cost £3,655 and the process could take up to 16 weeks, and also involves other onerous strictures.
Brendan Perring, general manager at the IPIA, said: “I can confirm that the IPIA has urgently raised the issue with BEIS and they have in turn raised it with the Home Office and their Chemicals Team.
“We have a meeting on Friday with BEIS, in which we will present our brief on this issue together with representation from the ink manufacturing industry and request that an exception be made for printing inks – or a time limited exemption made so that manufacturers can be given adequate time to react to find alternative solutions.”
The BCF noted that as the legislation currently stands, licences would be required for import, export, production, supply and possession of GBL and BDO.
“Our understanding is that this will mean that not only will companies manufacturing products containing GBL/BDO require a licence, but so would their customers, i.e. users of mixtures (e.g. printing inks or coatings) that contain GBL/ BDO,” said BCF CEO Tom Bowtell.
“The burden this creates for users of mixtures such as printing inks should not be underestimated. For example, DBS checks for several members of staff would be required before a license could be applied for, and a separate and secure storage facility would be needed.”
Both the BCF and IPIA said they believed that the Home Office significantly underestimated the number of businesses that would be affected by the changes.
The IPIA said the government’s actions was influenced by an expectation that this would affect just “65 companies nationwide”, whereas it had estimated that around 3,500 companies use printing equipment – particularly inkjet printers – that use ink that contains GBL.
The BCF added: “In discussion with officials at the Home Office we have requested an extension to the June 2022 deadline for obtaining a licence for use of GBL as a substance.
“This is a very challenging timeline, and in addition it doesn’t allow sufficient time for the companies to reformulate away from GBL, if that is their intention. We have also called for users of mixtures to be put out of scope from the requirement to obtain a licence. We believe that these changes would result in a more proportionate regulation,” Bowtell added.
When taken as an illicit drug GBL is also known as liquid ecstasy and has been used in drink spiking. It is very easy for drug users to inadvertently overdose on it.
