Made under Art. 95 (EC) Came into force 20 January 2009 | Date made 16 December 2008 | |
Title Regulation on classification, labelling and packaging of substances and mixtures, amending and repealing Directives 67/548/EEC and 1999/45/EC, and amending Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 Made by European Parliament and Council Journal reference L353, 31.12.2008, pp. 1–1355 | ||
The CLP Regulation (for "Classification, Labelling and Packaging") is a European Union regulation from 2008, which aligns the European Union system of classification, labelling and packaging of chemical substances and mixtures to the Globally Harmonised System (GHS). It is expected to facilitate global trade and the harmonised communication of hazard information of chemicals and to promote regulatory efficiency. It complements the 2006 Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) Regulation (EC No 1907/2006) and replaces the current system contained in the Dangerous Substances Directive (67/548/EEC) and the Dangerous Preparations Directive (1999/45/EC).
Contents
Content
The European Unions 2008 "Classification, Labelling and Packaging" regulation incorporates the classification criteria and labelling rules agreed at the UN level, the so-called Globally Harmonised System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS). It introduced new classification criteria, european hazard symbols (pictograms) and Risk and Safety Statements for labelling, while taking into account elements which were part of the prior EU legislation.
The regulation requires companies to appropriately classify, label and package their substances and mixtures before placing them on the market. It aims to protect workers, consumers and the environment by labelling that reflects a particular chemical's possible hazards. It also addresses the notification of classifications, the establishment of a list of harmonised classifications and the creation of a classification and labelling inventory, as required by REACH.
Implementation
The regulation came into force in January 2009. Manufacturers and importers had already pre-registered more than 140,000 substances with the European Chemicals Agency under the REACH Regulation. They had until 1 December 2010 to propose "provisional classifications" for these substances, which have been used for the labelling of pure substances since that date. The deadline for classifying mixtures was 31 May 2015. The deadline for re-labelling and re-packaging of products already on the market is two years later.
Further legislation 2008–2009
In 2008, Directive 2008/112/EC and regulation (EC) No 1336/2008 adapted classification-based provisions in other existing EU legislation (“downstream legislation”) to the new rules. Pursuant to article 53 of the CLP Regulation, in 2009 a first adaptation to the technical and scientific progress (ATP) was made with Commission Regulation 790/2009.