Home > Regulations > EU CLP Labeling Rules (Regulation 1272/2008)

Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008, amended by Regulation (EU) 2024/2865 and Regulation (EU) 2025/2439

The EU CLP chemical labeling rules

For chemical suppliers and their labeling teams working out what the revised CLP Regulation changes on hazard labels and listings. This page covers what you need to know and ways to avoid running into issues.

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Applies across the EUHazard pictogram

What we've seen reported

The CLP Regulation, Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008, sets EU rules on classifying, labeling and packaging hazardous chemicals. Its 2024 revision adds label format, ad and online sales rules, now applying from January 1, 2028.^1,^2,³

Last updated October 2026 · General information only, not legal advice. Sources.

Who it covers: Suppliers of substances and mixtures, including manufacturers, importers, downstream users and distributors, according to its text¹
Applies from: January 20, 2009¹Revision in force December 10, 2024; its label format, ad and online sales rules apply from January 1, 2028^2,³
Region: European Union¹

What the rules cover

What the rules ask for

These are the label requirements the CLP Regulation and its 2024 revision describe, according to their texts, with the dates set by the 2025 amendment.^1,^2,³

Requirement	Where it applies
Label elements	Suppliers: hazard pictograms, signal word, hazard and precautionary statements, product identifiers and supplier contact details.
Language of the label	In the official language of each member state where the product is placed on the market, unless that state provides otherwise.
Label format and minimum font size	Revision: minimum font sizes and line spacing for label text, applying from January 1, 2028.
Fold-out labels	Revision: allowed more widely, with set elements on the front page.
Digital labels	Revision: label information may also be given in digital form next to the physical label; for certain products, digital-only information.
Advertising	Revision: ads for a classified substance or mixture carry its hazard information, from January 1, 2028.
Distance sales offers	Revision: online and other distance offers show the label elements clearly and visibly, from January 1, 2028.

Where it goes wrong

Approved once. Then it drifts.

One approved set of product information ends up in many channels, markets and languages. Along the way it gets shortened, translated and reworded, and some versions end up without the warnings or details these rules require.

Approved onceIllustrative example

FloorPro degreaser: Danger, corrosion pictogram, H314

Container label · GermanyGEFAHR · GHS05 · H314 Verursacht schwere Verätzungen der Haut und schwere Augenschäden "DANGER · GHS05 · H314 Causes severe skin burns and eye damage"
Distributor listing · PolandDriftedProduct photo and price; no pictogram or hazard statementHazard statement missing
Web shop · FranceDANGER · GHS05 · H314 Provoque de graves brûlures de la peau et de graves lésions des yeux "DANGER · GHS05 · H314 Causes severe skin burns and eye damage"
Trade ad · NetherlandsDriftedHeadline and offer; pictogram and signal word droppedPictogram missing
Fold-out label · SpainPELIGRO · GHS05 · H314 Provoca quemaduras graves en la piel y lesiones oculares graves "DANGER · GHS05 · H314 Causes severe skin burns and eye damage"
Sales sheet · EUSignal word, pictogram and H314 included

How Arbitr helps

So how do you manage hazard labels at scale, across every market and channel you operate in?

Read every version by hand? Or use AI to check what you publish against what you've already approved.

Check everything manually?

Too much to check. More versions go out every week than anyone can read in every language.
Drift goes unseen. Nothing tells you when a version moves away from the approved product information.
Changes mean starting over. When your rules or approved wording change, everything live has to be checked again by hand.

Let Arbitr do it for you

Scan what's live. Go through every live version, in every language, against your approved rules, and find every listing and ad missing a pictogram or hazard statement.
See what needs attention. Get a clear report of anything that might have moved away from what was approved.
Check what comes next. Check new content against what you approved before it goes live, in every channel, market and language.

Approve once. Apply everywhere.

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FAQ

Questions about the EU CLP chemical labeling rules

For your teams

Where do CLP hazard labels end up beyond the container?

Anywhere the product is sold or shown. The CLP Regulation describes the label on the packaging, and its 2024 revision adds hazard information in advertising and distance sales offers from January 1, 2028,^1,^2,³ which for most suppliers means:

container labels and fold-out labels
digital labels, where you use them
your own web shop and product pages
marketplace and distributor listings
print, online and trade ads

How do you keep hazard statements identical across language versions?

Hold each hazard and precautionary statement as approved text per language, tied to the product's classification, rather than retyping it on every label. The text describes the label in the official language of each member state where the product is sold,¹ and we usually find older statement versions surviving on reprinted labels and distributor sites. Our packaging and labels page shows how teams track this.

What should a web shop listing for a hazardous mixture show?

From January 1, 2028, the revised text describes the label elements shown clearly and visibly on a distance sales offer,^2,³ so check each listing carries the pictograms, signal word and hazard statements of the current label. Distributor listings built from old product data are where they tend to be missing.

How it applies to a specific listing is a question for your legal adviser. Where that listing appears across your markets and languages is a question Arbitr answers.

Who in a chemical business needs to know about the revised CLP rules?

Regulatory and product stewardship teams usually own classification, but the label itself is reproduced by packaging, e-commerce, marketing and distributor teams. Each needs the current pictograms and statements for every product and language. Other labeling rules are on our product labeling hub, and US workplace hazard labels on our GHS labeling page.

About the rules

Did Regulation (EU) 2025/2439 delay the revised CLP label rules?

Some of them. Regulation (EU) 2025/2439 moved the dates for relabeling, label formatting, advertising, distance sales and fuel pump labeling in the 2024 revision to January 1, 2028. The revision itself has been in force since December 10, 2024.^2,³

Is the EU CLP Regulation the same as GHS?

Not exactly. According to its text, the CLP Regulation brings the UN's Globally Harmonized System of classification and labeling into EU law, and the 2024 revision adds EU rules on label format, digital labels and online sales.^1,² Marking rules for other products in Great Britain are on our UKCA marking page.

When did the revised CLP Regulation enter into force?

On December 10, 2024, according to Regulation (EU) 2024/2865, which was published in the Official Journal on November 20, 2024. Several of its labeling changes apply later, now from January 1, 2028.^2,^3,⁴

About Arbitr

Does Arbitr replace our reviewers?

No. Your reviewers stop reading everything and read only what has been flagged, with the rule and the reason attached.