An EU-wide enforcement project checking the compliance of classification and labelling of chemical mixtures has found that a “significant” number of them do not meet basic legal obligations. The exercise – Echa Enforcement Forum’s REACH-En-Force (Ref-6) project – saw inspectors in 29 countries checking 3,391 mixtures and inspecting 1,620 companies, including manufacturers, importers, downstream users and distributors during 2018.
The report of the project, published on 17 December 2019, said that 44% of hazardous mixtures analysed had “at least one inconsistency” when it came to classification and labelling obligations.
The aim was to check compliance with – and raise awareness of – a number of legal provisions under the CLP Regulation. These include legal provisions stipulated in Articles 4, 17, 29, 35 and 37 of CLP, and Article 31 of REACH.
Inspectors checked items commonly known to contain hazardous ingredients. These include washing and cleaning products, coatings, paints, thinners and paint removers, adhesives and sealants, room fragrances and air freshener products.
The results showed also that:
- 43% of all reported companies were found to have at least one non-compliance;
- 17% of reported mixtures were using an incorrect classification, which may result in incorrect labelling on the mixtures, and thereby incorrect safe use advice;
- for 9% of certain substances checked in the project which include SVHCs, the required harmonised classification and labelling were not applied;
- 33% of reported mixtures had incorrect labelling;
- for 22% of the checked LLDCs, the closure of the outer packaging did not maintain its functionality when repeatedly used during the life span of the packaging; and
- 33% of the checked safety data sheets (SDSs) were non-compliant with the requirements checked in the project.
Recommendations
Following the results of the project, the report recommended that:
- manufacturers, importers and downstream users should put more effort into deriving the right mixtures hazard classification and communicate it along the supply chain to prevent spreading incorrect SDS and label information;
- industry should do more to improve the quality of SDSs which will then enhance supply chain information. This can be achieved by better active communication and cooperation along the chain. Including recommendations from the Forum’s SDS working group and providing information campaigns and training to improve industry knowledge on the topic will also help; and
- the Forum should consider repeating the project in a few years to monitor compliance with CLP requirements for classification and labelling of mixtures, and the quality of the information in the supply chain, including the SDSs.
Make sure that you know your obligations and how these could affect your business.
Managing ongoing chemical compliance can be very complex, and requires effective regulatory label and document control. Hibiscus offers powerful and affordable solutions to ensure that your labels and safety data sheets always comply with the local, regional, and global chemical regulations such as GHS, CLP and REACH.