EU Council Adopts Revision on CLP Regulation

On October 14, 2024, European Council adopted the revision of Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008 on the classification, labelling and packaging of substances and mixtures (CLP Regulation), marking the final step in the decision-making process.

This targeted revision of CLP Regulation constitutes a crucial part of the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability, a key building block of the European Green Deal to ensure a toxic-free environment.

Context of Proposal

The CLP revision aims to better identify and classify hazardous chemicals, improve communication on chemical hazards and address legal gaps and high levels of non-compliance.

The major elements of the legislative proposal are summarized below:

Aims	Complementary Measures
Comprehensive identification and classification of chemical hazards	1. Introduce harmonized classification for the new hazard classes of: Endocrine Disrupting for Human Health, Cat 1 or 2 Endocrine Disrupting for Environment, Cat 1 or 2 Persistent, Bioaccumulative and Toxic (PBT) very Persistent and very Bioaccumulative (vPvB) Persistent, Mobile and Toxic (PMT) very Persistent and very Mobile (vPvM) Consistent with ongoing revision of REACH for possible extension of data requirement for ED identification and for substances placed on the market in lower volumes. 2. Improve companies' classification of substances by: making available the reasons for diverging notified classification in the Agency's inventory making the names of notifiers public requiring updates of notifications of classifications within a early stage deadline
Improve hazard communication	Introduce obligatroy formatting rules, such as minimum font size and color, to increase the readability of labels Intruduce specific rules for sale of chemicals in refillable containers Codify requirements for the voluntary digital labeling of chemicals, including the introduction of a digital product passport for data communication across value chain Allow broader use of fold-out labels for economies of scale Introduce derogations for chemicals sold in bulk and small packaging
Addressing legal gaps and ambiguities of CLP provisions	Require the online sales to comply with CLP requirements on classification, labeling and packaging Require all relevant actors to notify poison centers across the EU about the relevant information

Next Step

After the signing of the President of the European Parliament and the President of the Council, the new CLP Regulation will be published in the Official Journal of the European Union and will enter into force 20 days later.

The Commission's Proposal can be accessed here.