EU Poison Centre transition period: act now!

Companies placing hazardous mixtures on the EU market have long had obligations to provide information to Poison Centres about their products to assist with accidents and emergencies. A harmonised reporting format for this information was introduced in 2020 as Annex VIII of the CLP Regulation, aiming to provide better consistency of information and to simplify the process for companies notifying Poison Centres about new products or updating information about previously notified products. The new format has been phased in over several years, with notifications to Poison Centres for new products being required to be made in the harmonised format since 1st January 2021 for consumer and professional products, and since 1st January 2024 for industrial products. 

Companies that had already provided their poison centre notifications prior to the 1st January 2021 under the “existing” Member State notification schemes* have been able to benefit from a further transition period. This transition period gives companies until the 1st January 2025 to update their existing notifications into the new harmonised format.

*Existing member state notification schemes means the requirements that were in place in each EU country prior to the introduction of Annex VIII to CLP.

What do companies need to do if they are currently benefiting from the transition period?

• Review your product portfolio to establish which products need to be notified to comply with Annex VIII of CLP (those with health and physical hazards)
• Ensure your Safety Data Sheets are up to date and compliant to accompany your Poison Centre Notification
• Be ready to act and put the relevant Unique Formula Identifiers (UFIs) on your product SDS & labels

There is a lot to be done before the 1st January 2025 so act now!

How can Ricardo help?

Having completed over 5000 notifications, our experienced team can operate on your behalf: for GB based companies we can submit voluntary notifications through an EU legal entity, helping you to protect your supply chain, retaining customer confidence in your products and avoiding enforcement action.

The clock is ticking, start your notifications now to ensure you are compliant and can continue to place hazardous mixtures on the market from the 1st January 2025.