Health and Safety
Executive / Commission
Globally
Harmonised Systems
Within the Europe Union (EU), Member States asked the European Commission to prepare a proposal for a Regulation which would implement the UN GHS criteria in all EU Member States.
The European Commission has produced a proposed Regulation on Classification, Labelling and Packaging of substances and mixtures.
The proposed Regulation will be direct-acting, requiring no national transposition. Its provisions are likely to be phased in over a period of years. This is intended to help suppliers and users of chemicals change from the current EU classification and labelling system to the new GHS-based system.
Over time, t he proposed new Regulation will replace the:
These Directives have been implemented in the UK as the Chemicals Hazard Information and Packaging for supply Regulations (CHIP).
The European Commission’s proposed Regulation was launched in June 2007.
The proposed Regulation will also be considered by the European parliament. This process is known as ‘co-decision’; more information on the co-decision procedure.
The Regulation will apply directly in member states. It will not be necessary for member states to implement the Regulation. However, HSE will need to prepare enforcing regulations to allow the provisions to be enforced in the UK.
The proposed Regulation has been subject to negotiations between the Council and the European Parliament since July 2007. The UK (represented by HSE) has been, and continues to be, very active in these negotiations, and is following closely developments in the European Parliament.
Negotiations are expected to conclude in June/July 2008, when the proposed Regulation on the Classification, Packaging and Labelling of substances and mixtures is expected to be adopted.
The Regulation is expected to enter into force at the end of 2008.
The Regulation is expected to offer a transition period to allow a gradual migration from the existing system to the new regime. This transition period is expected to be up to 7 ½ years (2-3 years for the classification of substances and 4 ½ years for the classification of mixtures). The transitional period is anticipated to end in June 2015.
Both the European Commission and HSE have consulted on the proposed Regulation.
The European Commission ran an Internet-based consultation on a draft Regulation based on the UN GHS from 21 August to 21 October 2006.
For further information please see:
The non-confidential replies and comments from respondents (including the UK Government Response) are available on the EC website (above).
The HSC (now the Board of the Health and Safety Executive) consulted on the proposed Regulation in 2007, through a Consultative Document (CD). The timing of the Consultative Document (CD No 213) was determined by the publication on 27 June 2007 of the EC’s formal proposed Regulation on the Classification, Labelling and Packaging of Substances and Mixturesm and the immediate start thereafter of Member State negotiations and consideration in the European Parliament. The HSC consultation ran from 14 August – 2 November 2007. A copy of the CD can be found on the HSE consultations website.
The CD included an initial Regulatroy Impact Assessment (RIA). The RIA invited respondents to comment on the assumptions made about the estimated costs and potential benefits of implementing the proposed Regulation in the UK. Where respondents challenged these assumptions, they were further invited to provide evidence and/or justification for any proposed amendments based on, for example, their experience of current classification, labelling and packaging activities and the anticipated changes. The RIA was updated to take into account the comments received. A copy of the final RIA can be found on the HSE RIA website.
