Chemical Industry welcomes agreement on Classification, Labelling and Packaging regulation in 1st reading

12-08-2008: The Council adopted the Regulation on Classification, Labelling and Packaging (CLP) of substances and mixtures. The CLP regulation implements the United Nations Globally Harmonized System (GHS) of classification and labelling into EU legislation and is expected to enter into force late 2008. Cefic welcomes that Parliament and Council have reached agreement in 1st reading as this does not further reduce the time industry has to implement this regulation.

The adoption of the CLP regulation by the European Parliament and by the Council is an important milestone in harmonising classification, labelling and packaging of substances and mixtures globally. The deadlines for classification and labelling set by the CLP regulation are 1 December 2010 for substances and 1 June 2015 for mixtures. The existing EU Directives on classification, labelling, and packaging will be repealed on 1 June 2015.

Although Cefic welcomes the adoption of the CLP regulation at first reading, its implementation will have significant impacts on the chemical industry: (i) the notification of the classification and labelling of substances has to be done without any volume threshold, which leads to an administrative burden without clear benefits for human health or the environment, (ii) the coexistence of the existing and new classification and labelling system, which may lead to confusion, and (iii) there will be consequences for downstream legislation such as the Seveso Directive, which may prove costly. Cefic looks forward to working with the regulators to resolve these challenges and to continue working on preparation of guidance to implement the CLP regulation through the REACH Implementation Project 3.6 project.

“Cefic is very pleased that the European Parliament and the Council have reached agreement in their 1st reading and Cefic has an important role to play in supporting its members to implement the CLP regulation”, says Lena Perenius, Cefic Executive Director for Product Stewardship.

Cefic has already provided guidance to its membership on the classification and labelling requirements of the CLP regulation in the context of the registration of substances under REACH. Cefic will provide further guidance and support to its members on implementing CLP.