The Council of the European Union today adopted the Regulation on classification, labelling and packaging of chemicals (CLP). This is the last stage of the decision-making process. The CLP Regulation updates current EU legislation from 2008, clarifies rules on the labelling of chemicals and adapts them to different forms of trade, such as online commerce or selling bulk products at filling stations. 

The regulation also promotes the circularity of chemicals, makes labelling, including digital labelling, clearer and more readable, and ensures a higher level of protection against chemical hazards.

The risks associated with chemicals require specific legislation for their classification, labelling and packaging: the CLP Regulation of 2008 was not sufficiently adapted to the emergence of new hazards: For example, the presence of endocrine disruptors or the long-lasting effect of some substances, but it was also not good for new trends in digital sales and the circular economy, such as online or wholesale shopping, and digital labelling.

The recently adopted revision of the CLP Regulation facilitates reporting on new hazards from chemicals placed on the market and gives the Commission and other stakeholders new powers to classify harmful substances and speed up their identification. It also codifies the requirements for voluntary digital labelling. 

The new regulation introduces specific rules for chemical filling stations: it will apply to all solid chemicals, although a five-year derogation is provided for substances with more than one constituent (MOCS) of botanical origin which have not been chemically modified. Once this period has expired, the Commission will be able to propose new legislation based on the latest scientific knowledge.

Following today’s approval by the Council, the legislative act has been adopted: after signature of the act by the President of the European Parliament and the President of the Council, The new CLP regulation will be published in the Official Journal of the European Union and will enter into force three days later.
The revision of the CLP, together with the planned revision of the Reach regulation, is an important element of the Strategy for Chemicals for Sustainability, which constitutes a key element of the European Green Deal. The Commission proposal was presented on 19 December 2022 and the Council concluded a mandate to start negotiations with the European Parliament on 30 June 2023. The two co-legislators reached an interim agreement on 5 December 2023. Since then, the provisional agreement has followed the correction procedure during the European elections. It was finally adopted at first reading.