Chemicals: Commission launches public consultation on revision of CLP Regulation

On 6^th August, the European Commission has launched a public consultation on the revision of the Regulation on the classification, labelling and packaging of chemical substances and mixtures (“CLP Regulation”). This revision is one of the 85 actions planned in the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability, adopted by the Commission in October 2020 as the first step towards the zero pollution ambition. Citizens and organizations are invited to share their views until 15^th November 2021.

The CLP Regulation is the core piece of legislation used in the EU to identify and communicate the hazardous properties of chemicals. It stems from the United Nations’ global standard (GHS) and enacts this standard into EU law. It sets out how to classify chemicals which are hazardous (e.g. as carcinogenic or hazardous to the aquatic environment) and how to communicate those hazards across supply chains and to consumers and workers.

For this revision, the Commission will examine, among others, different measures and options to introduce new hazard classes (such as endocrine disruption as well as persistency, bioaccumulation and toxicity) and corresponding classification criteria.