CLP Regulation: EU Parliament adopts negotiated compromise
The European Parliament has adopted the negotiated compromise on the CLP revision. This means that the industry will be faced with a number of new regulations on the classification, labeling and packaging of chemicals.
The aim of the CLP Regulation is to inform stakeholders in the supply chain and the general public about the potential hazards of substances and mixtures. The German Chemical Industry Association (VCI) supports the current revision of the CLP Regulation in principle, but at the same time expresses clear concerns regarding the adaptation of labels, the classification of substances with more than one component and the increased use of substance groupings.
“Particularly in light of the current tense economic situation, such measures will only create additional burdens for companies. It is important that practical assistance and guidelines are made available to companies quickly so that implementation runs as smoothly as possible,” says Ulrike Zimmer, Head of Technology and Environment at the German Chemical Industry Association (VCI).
The redesign of labels due to new formatting requirements represents a considerable financial burden for the industry without any recognizable added value for end consumers or professional users. Furthermore, in future, substances are to be assessed more on the basis of their individual components and less on the basis of the substance as a whole. As a result, many currently safe substances will have to be re-evaluated internally and could be subject to further restrictions and bans in the future. The VCI is also critical of the increased use of substance groupings in which different substances with structural similarities are assessed together. This could result in relevant information on individual substances being lost. Quality should continue to take precedence over quantity in hazard assessment.
The VCI takes a positive view of the introduction of digital labels, which should make it easier for end consumers to access relevant information in the future. Equating folded labels with conventional labels is also a benefit for the industry in terms of multilingualism. The VCI is also in favor of allowing chemicals to be dispensed in refill stations without disposable packaging in the future.
