Guidance

Comply with UK REACH: create a Government Gateway and Defra account

Updated 20 July 2023

Applies to England, Scotland and Wales

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/create-an-organisation-account-on-the-comply-with-uk-reach-service/create-an-organisation-account-on-the-comply-with-uk-reach-service

Create a Government Gateway account

You’ll need a Government Gateway account to use the Comply with UK REACH service.

If you do not have a Government Gateway account you can set one up when you use the Comply with UK REACH service for the first time.

Create a Defra account as the lead organisation

You can only create a Defra account if your business, Only Representative (OR) or organisation is based in Great Britain (England, Scotland or Wales).

  1. Follow the guidance and get help with setting up a Defra account.

  2. Once you’re logged in to your Defra account, accept the terms and conditions for the service and then select the ‘Comply with UK REACH’ service dashboard.

Local authorities, government departments and the armed forces

Local authorities, government departments and the armed forces must select ‘sole trader’ as business type.

  1. Select ‘A business or organisation’ then select ‘Continue’.

  2. Select where your organisation is registered to trade.

  3. If you’re a UK business, you’ll be asked if your business is registered with Companies House.

  4. If your business is registered with Companies House, select ‘Yes’ and enter your Companies House number, confirm your address and enter your contact details.

  5. If your business is not registered with Companies House, you’ll be able to register as a sole trader.

  1. From the Comply with UK REACH homepage select ‘Manage Account’ and select the relevant account you want to add the related organisation to.

  2. Select ‘add related organisation’ under ‘Manage your organisation’.

  3. Provide the name of the related organisation.

  4. When asked if the contact details and address for the related organisation are the same as the lead organisation, select yes or no.

  5. If the related organisation details are different, submit these details. If you’re an OR you should use the UK-based address of the Only Representative for the address of the related organisation account. This must be a GB based address and not the address of the sponsor company for whom you are acting as an OR.

  6. Register the ‘related’ account.

You can change a related organisation’s email address and phone number but not the address. You cannot remove an account after you have registered it.

If you need to change a related organisation’s address, contact the UK Chemicals helpline.

UK Chemicals helpline
Telephone number: 0330 159 1985
9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday

Other members of the chemical substance group can see your related organisation account name. If you do not want other users to know who the related organisation is, you should use a different name.

For example, you could name this account ‘[UK Company] acting as an OR on behalf of [non-UK Company]’. If you are an OR and you do not wish for the name of the Company you are acting on behalf of to be viewable, you could use a naming convention such as ‘[UK OR Company Name] – OR001’. Remember to make a note of this offline.

An account administrator (the person who created the account) can add multiple users. Users can help manage the account.

A new user needs to have a Government Gateway account before an account administrator (admin) can add them.

  1. From the account dashboard select ‘Manage’ next to the related organisation.

  2. Select ‘Manage team access’ and then select ‘Add a team member’.

  3. Enter the email address of the new user for the organisation of the related organisation account.

  4. The new user will get a confirmation email.

  1. On the ‘Tell us your details’ page, select ‘Your name’ and enter your first name and surname. Select ‘Continue’.

  2. Select ‘Your contact details’ and enter your contact telephone number. Select ‘Continue’.

  3. Select ‘Your security word’, create and enter your security word then select ‘Continue’. Remember to make a note of your security word.

  4. Check your answers before submitting them. If you’re happy with your answers, select ‘I am not a robot’.

  5. Your related user registration is now complete. The owner of the admin account will get an email. They can now set your account access level and allocate you a role.

Give a user standard or administrator account access as the lead organisation

  1. Sign in to your Government Gateway account. Go to the Your Defra account page.

  2. Select ‘Manage’ next to the related organisation, then select ‘Manage team access’.

  3. Select the team member and ‘Give account access’.

  4. You will be asked whether you want to give this person any admin responsibilities for your organisation. Select the ‘Admin’ or ‘Standard’ radio button.

  5. The user now has account access.

You should assign more than one administrator (admin) for each team, to prevent loss of access if an admin leaves the organisation.

Give a user service access and a service role (as the lead organisation)

  1. Select ‘Continue’ to enrol the user and select ‘Give service access’.

  2. You’ll be asked, ‘Which service do you want this person to use?’ Select ‘Comply with UK REACH’ then select ‘Continue’.

  3. You’ll be asked ‘Which role do you wish to give this person?’ Choose the correct role and select ‘Continue’.

  4. Service access and the service role have now been set. The user will get a confirmation email.

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