Just as the European market finished updating SDSs under the newly amended Annex II requirements to meet the January 1, 2023 deadline, there are more changes on the horizon for EU CLP.
Back in the fall of 2022, Nexreg wrote about the new EU hazard classes being considered under the CLP GHS. This initiative is already very close to becoming reality in the EU.
The amendments to Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008 will create new classifications for chemicals that are endocrine disruptors, Persistent, Bioaccumulative and Toxic or Very Persistent, Very Bioaccumulative (PBT/vPvB) and Persistent, Mobile and Toxic or Very Persistent, Very Mobile (PMT/vPvM).
The first draft of this regulation was released in September, with the comment period ending in October 2022. Then on December 19, 2022, many in the industry were surprised to see the European Commission release the finalized version of the proposal so quickly. The European Parliament and Council are currently discussing this legislative amendment over the next month, with an expectation that it will be into force early 2024.
Dates for exact implementation are yet to be confirmed but transition periods are expected to be as follows:
- 24-months for new substances
- 36-months for new mixtures
- 42-months for current substances on the market
- 60-months for current mixtures on the market
These amendments were not widely accepted by industry. While all stakeholders seem to support the additional hazards being included in the regulations, many were concerned about the specific criteria definitions being well defined, ensuring animal testing would not be needed, that a fair analysis was completed by world-wide scientific experts, and there were worries about causing trade barriers since this new regulation would make CLP divergent from the UN GHS.
Nexreg is closely monitoring these changes and will inform our clients when their SDSs need updating to these requirements.