Licensing for home users of poisons and explosive precursors
Updated 11 February 2022
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Certain chemicals can be used in the illicit manufacture of explosives or to cause harm. Members of the public who want to acquire, import, possess or use these chemicals must have a valid explosives precursors and poisons (EPP) licence issued by the Home Office and an associated photographic identity document.
1. Regulated substances
A member of the public must provide a valid EPP licence and associated photo ID if they wish to buy or receive any of the regulated substances above the specified concentration limit.
Please note that under the Offensive Weapons Act 2019, sales of corrosives are restricted to those under 18. We will not process licence applications for people under 18 requesting substances restricted under the Offensive Weapons Act.
Concentration threshold
These are the concentration thresholds for explosives precursors:
- hydrogen peroxide:12% w/w
- nitromethane: 30% w/w
- nitric acid: 3% w/w
- sodium chlorate: 40% w/w
- potassium chlorate: 40% w/w
- sodium perchlorate: 40% w/w
- potassium perchlorate: 40% w/w
- sulphuric acid: 15% w/w
These are the concentration thresholds for poisons:
- Aluminium phosphide
- Arsenic and its compounds (other than calcium arsenites, copper acetoarsenite, copper arsenates, copper arsenites, lead arsenates)
- Barium salts (other than barium sulphate, barium carbonate and barium silicofluoride)
- Bromomethane
- Chloropicrin
- Fluoroacetic acid, its salts and fluoroacetamide
- Hydrogen cyanide and metal cyanides (other than ferrocyanides and ferricyanides)
- Lead acetates and compounds of lead with acids from fixed oils
- Magnesium phosphide
- Mercury and its compounds (including: nitrates of mercury; oxides of mercury; mercuric cyanide oxides; mercuric thiocyanate; ammonium mercuric chlorides; potassium mercuric iodides; organic compounds of mercury which contain a methyl group directly linked to the mercury atom)
- Oxalic acid- 10% w/w
- Phenols (phenol; phenolic isomers of cresols, xylenols, monoethylphenols); compounds of phenols with a metal; 60% w/w of phenols or, for compounds of phenols with a metal, the equivalent of 60% w/w of phenols
- Phosphorus yellow
- Strychnine and its salts and its quaternary compounds
- Thallium and its salts
2. Criminal offences
2.1 Acquiring and importing
It is an offence for a member of the public to acquire or import any of the regulated substances without holding a valid EPP licence issued by the Home Office.
If found guilty of this offence, there is a maximum penalty of 2 years’ imprisonment and/or a fine.
2.2 Supplying
It is an offence to supply a member of the public any of the regulated substances if they do not hold a valid EPP licence issued by the Home Office.
If found guilty, there is a maximum penalty of 2 years’ imprisonment and/or a fine.
2.3 Possession
It is an offence to possess or use a regulated substance without holding a valid EPP licence issued by the Home Office.
If found guilty of this offence, there is a maximum penalty of 2 years’ imprisonment and/or a fine.
3. Application process
The licence application process will take you through a series of questions to check whether you need to apply for a licence. It will prompt you to have all of the necessary documents to hand, such as proof of identity.
On receipt of your application and payment, the Home Office will conduct checks into your suitability, including criminal record and health checks.
Offences that might be considered relevant to these checks are listed in due diligence checks.
Once a decision on your application has been reached, the Home Office will write to you. If accepted, a licence will be posted to you separately.
Your application will be automatically refused if you apply for a substance where there are safer alternatives available for the use specified. You will not receive a refund.
Remember to check the advice for home users on the Poisons Act 1972 and the Control of Poisons and Explosives Precursors Regulations 2015.
4. Fees
You will need a credit or debit card to pay for your licence. Licence costs are outlined below:
| Licence type | Cost |
|---|---|
| New | £39.50 |
| Amend | Free |
| Replace (lost, stolen or damaged) | £25.00 |
| Renew | £39.50 |
All costs outlined above are non-refundable as fees reflect the processing and administration of licences.
The EPP licence will be valid for a maximum of 3 years. If the documentation provided during the application process is valid for a period of less than 3 years from the date the licence is granted, you will be required to re-apply for a licence once the documentation has expired.
Licence fees cannot be changed without parliamentary scrutiny.
5. Apply for a licence
The online application form will take you through the steps to see if you need a licence to acquire, possess or use explosives precursors and poisons.
Take note of the checklist of documents you need when applying for a licence.
Please check your application is correctly countersigned.
Northern Ireland
EPP licences issued by the Home Office are no longer recognised in Northern Ireland. This change came into effect from January 1 2021.
Because of these changes, you will no longer be able to use an EPP licence issued by the Home Office to acquire, import, possess or use explosives precursors in Northern Ireland. These changes apply to all current and future licence holders.
If you do wish to acquire, import, possess or use explosives precursors in Northern Ireland, you are required to apply for a Northern Ireland licence.
EPP licences can include substances classified as poisons. In Northern Ireland, poisons are the responsibility of the devolved administration. Should you wish to acquire, import, possess or use poisons in Northern Ireland you should contact the Medicines Regulatory Group.
Your licences will still be recognised as valid in England, Wales and Scotland.
6. Amend a licence
You must amend your EPP licence if you:
- have changed your name since your current licence was issued
- have changed your address since your current licence was issued
- have changed your storage and/or usage address since your current licence was issued
- need to change the substances or the volume of those substances that your current licence covers you to acquire, possess or use
As part of your licence conditions, you must contact the Home Office immediately by completing the online amendment application and returning your licence. Further instructions for returning your licence will be issued in the confirmation email upon completing your application.
Once both your amendment application form and licence have been received, the Home Office will endeavour to process your application within 28 days. You will receive an email once a decision on your application has been made. If accepted, a new licence will be posted to you separately.
6.1 Other changes
You must notify the Home Office immediately if there has been any change in your mental health condition and/or a condition relating to substance misuse that may affect your ability to safely possess and use the substances specified on the licence.
If you receive a criminal conviction, you must inform the Home Office without undue delay. This includes motoring offences, binding overs, formal written warnings and cautions and convictions in or outside Great Britain. Details of parking offences and fixed penalty notices are exempt.
Please contact the Home Office EPP Licensing Unit at epp@homeoffice.pnn.police.uk if you wish to amend your contact details.
Amendments are free of charge.
Start the process to amend a licence.
6.2 Non-compliance
If you do not advise the Home Office of any changes, you are not complying with the licence conditions and your licence may be suspended or revoked. This could result in you being in breach of the Poisons Act 1972 and the Control of Poisons and Explosives Precursors Regulations 2015.
7. Replace a licence
As part of your EPP licence conditions you must inform the Home Office, without undue delay, of the theft, loss or destruction of your licence.
You must report any theft of your licence to the police if you wish to apply for a replacement. You will receive a police crime reference number, which you will need to complete your online application for a replacement licence.
If your licence has been damaged, you must return any remaining parts to the Home Office. Further instructions for returning your licence will be issued in the confirmation email upon completing your application.
The cost of a replacement licence is £25.00. You can pay by either debit or credit card. Once your online amendment application form and replacement fee been received, the Home Office will endeavour to process your application within 28 days. You will receive an email once a decision on your application has been made. If accepted, a licence will be posted to you separately.
Start the process to replace a licence.
7.1 Non-compliance
If you do not advise the Home Office of any changes, you are not complying with the licence conditions and your licence may be suspended or revoked. This could result in you being in breach of the Poisons Act 1972 and the Control of Poisons and Explosives Precursors Regulations 2015.
8. Renew a licence
EPP licences are valid for 3 years. But if, in your original application, you used an identification document that had an expiry date earlier than 3 years, you will be held to that expiry date instead.
We recommend you complete the online renewal application 8 weeks before the expiry date. After you have completed your online renewal application, returned your old licence and paid the renewal fee, the Home Office will begin the renewal process. Further instructions for returning your old licence to the Home Office will be issued in the confirmation email upon completing your application.
The cost of a renewal is £39.50. You can pay by either debit or credit card.
The Home Office will conduct checks into your suitability, including both criminal record and health checks. Offences that might be considered relevant to these checks are listed in our due diligence checks document.
You will receive an email once a decision on your application has been made. If accepted, a new licence will be posted to you separately.
Start the process to renew a licence.
8.1 Non-compliance
If you do not advise the Home Office of any changes, you are not complying with the licence conditions and your licence may be suspended or revoked. This could result in you being in breach of the Poisons Act 1972 and the Control of Poisons and Explosives Precursors Regulations 2015.
9. Certificate of good conduct (non-UK citizens only)
You do not need to provide a certificate of good conduct if you are a UK citizen.
All non-UK citizens require a certificate of good conduct. A certificate of good conduct is issued by the police in the country of your citizenship. It will provide details of your criminal record or show that you don’t have one.
If you are an EEA national (other than British) and also reside outside Great Britain, you will need to continually demonstrate your suitability to hold an EPP licence. Every 6 months, from the date your licence was issued, you must provide an updated certificate of good conduct.
Once your online certificate of good conduct application form has been received, the Home Office will endeavour to process your application within 28 days.
Before your 6-monthly certificate of good conduct is due to expire, the Home Office will send you an email reminder 3 months prior and confirm its renewal date. To ensure we receive your new certificate of good conduct on time, we recommend you submit it 1 month before the due date outlined in your email reminder.
The certificate will need to be scanned and ready to upload. If your scanned document is larger than 200KB, it will not be accepted by the online system.
9.1 Non-compliance
If you are unable to continually demonstrate suitability to hold a licence, your licence may be suspended or revoked. This could result in you being in breach of the Poisons Act 1972 and the Control of Poisons Explosives Precursors Regulations 2015.
10. Additional transactional sheets
All transactions must be recorded by the supplier on the back of your licence within the transactions table.
You are required to request additional transactional sheets if you run out of entries on the transactions table. Suppliers may refuse the sale of a substance if the transactional table on your licence does not allow for further entries.
Additional transactional sheets are provided free of charge. Once your request for additional transactional sheets has been received, the Home Office will endeavour to process your request within 28 days. You will receive an email confirming when the additional transactional sheets have been posted to you.
Request additional transactional sheets
11. Background legislation
EU regulation 98/2013 on the marketing and use of explosives precursors requires EU member states to restrict sales of certain substances and mixtures that are explosives precursors and can be misused for the illicit manufacture of explosives.
On 26 March 2015, the Poisons Act 1972 was amended via the Deregulation Act 2015 and the Control of Poisons and Explosives Precursors Regulations 2015 were introduced to create a cohesive regime to control sales of explosives precursors and poisons.
The Poisons Act 1972 (Explosives Precursors)(Amendment) Regulations 2018 were introduced to make sulfuric acid a regulated explosives precursor. Offences relating to the acquisition, importation and supply of sulfuric acid above 15% weight by weight are effective from 1 July 2018. Offences relating to the possession and use of sulfuric acid above 15% weight by weight are effective from 1 November 2018.
12. Contact
For queries about licensing, please email epp@homeoffice.pnn.police.uk