In accordance with the new provisions of Regulation (CLP) of the European Parliament and the Council of December 31, 2008 (EC) No 1272\/2008, concerning the classification, labelling and packaging of substances and mixtures, all manufacturers of hazardous substances and those selling chemicals in the EU market were required to classify their substances by December 1, 2010, and notify the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) by January 3, 2011. The purpose of classification is to confirm whether chemicals pose a health and environmental hazard, and to confirm the labeling information for chemicals used by relevant workers and consumers. The new regulation aligns the EU classification system with the UN Globally Harmonized System for Chemicals, ensuring that the same hazardous substances are described and labeled in the same way globally, and enabling ECHA to establish the initial list of European hazardous substances and their harmonization classifications. By the deadline, ECHA had received 3,114,835 notifications of chemical substance classifications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Under new EU regulations, substances and mixtures must be classified into specific hazard levels and categories, and labeled with appropriate hazard pictograms, labeling, hazard descriptions, and precautions to ensure that information is adequately communicated to all users of the substance and that the same level of protection is provided, so that all stakeholders have access to information on the substance's hazards. ECHA will publish a classification and labelling inventory in the coming months based on the information obtained. In cases where the same substance is notified under different classifications, the relevant manufacturers must agree on an entry, thereby achieving a harmonized classification for all hazardous substances sold in the EU market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Information on EU chemical classifications and UN GHS can be found at the following websites: http:\/\/ec.europa.eu\/enterprise\/sectors\/chemicals\/classification\/index_en.htm, http:\/\/ec.europa.eu\/environment\/chemicals\/ghs\/index_en.htm, http:\/\/echa.europa.eu\/clp_en.asp, and http:\/\/www.unece.org\/trans\/danger\/publi\/ghs\/ghs_welcome_e.html.<\/p>\n\n\n\n