Essence of CLP

On 20 January 2009, the EU Regulation (EC) 1272/2008 called CLP entered into force. The CLP Regulation is the European implementation of the classification, labelling and packaging of chemical products according to the United Nations Globally Harmonised System of Classification and Labelling (GHS).

The aim of GHS and CLP is to facilitate international trade in chemicals and to improve the level of protection of human health and the environment. They ensure that the hazards posed by chemicals are communicated in a uniform manner to workers and consumers in the European Union and the rest of the world.

Classification

Suppliers of chemical products must first assess the potential risks to physical chemical hazards, human health and the environment against the CLP criteria ("classification"). From the classification process, the hazard classes are determined with the relevant pictograms, signal words and hazard statements, prevention, response, storage and disposal for each relevant hazard class and category.

Labelling and packaging

Suppliers must label and package a substance or mixture according to the CLP criteria before it can be placed on the market. This applies when a substance or mixture is classified as hazardous or for a non-hazardous mixture containing one or more substances classified as hazardous above a certain concentration limit.

Thanks to this classification and labelling process, the hazards of chemical products are communicated in an unambiguous and globally standardised way via the two main information carriers, on the hazard label and in the safety data sheet.

CLP Notification for inclusion in C&L Inventory

Manufacturers and importers must submit the classification and labelling information for the substances they place on the market for inclusion in the ECHA C&L inventory ("CLP Notification"). A CLP Notification must be made by the manufacturer/importer one month before the substance is placed on the market for each new substance. If the substance is registered, there is no need for a CLP notification.

Notification for poison centre notification (PCN)

In 2017, a new Annex VIII was added to the CLP Regulation as an implementation of CLP Art 45. Importers and downstream users who place dangerous mixtures on the market must send information to ECHA in the "Poison Control Notification" (PCN) format before the relevant deadline. New in this format is the inclusion of the product category according to a European Product Classification System (EuPCS) and the inclusion of a Unique Formula Identifier (UFI). The UFI must be communicated downstream in the supply chain via the hazard label and possibly also via the VIB. The deadlines for the PCN notification depend on the application of the hazardous mixture: professional or consumer application before 1 January 2021 and industrial application before 1 January 2024.

More information about CLP

• The CLP legislation (ECHA)
• Explanation CLP (ECHA)
• PCN Notification (ECHA; only in English)