CLP Regulation

CLP stands for Classification, Labelling and Packaging. It is the EU's version of the Globally Harmonized System, and it applies to chemical substances and mixtures placed on the European market. Anyone who manufactures, imports, or supplies such products has duties under it, with the main responsibility resting on the supplier.

The regulation requires three things. Hazards must be classified according to defined hazard classes and categories. The classification must be passed on through a label with the standard elements: product identifier, signal word, hazard statements, pictograms, precautionary statements and supplier identification. And the packaging must be suitable, for example child-resistant fastenings or tactile warnings for certain products.

CLP is closely tied to REACH. Information produced under REACH registration feeds into classification, and the safety data sheet requirements are set by REACH while the labelling rules sit in CLP. A harmonised classification list exists for some substances, and where one applies, suppliers must use it rather than their own judgement.

In practice, CLP labels look very similar to US HazCom labels because both come from the GHS, but the EU adds its own supplementary statements and has category differences. Anyone supplying to Europe should read the current regulation and its updates rather than relying on a US label.

Notification obligations also exist: classifications of hazardous substances are notified to a central inventory held by the European Chemicals Agency.