As defined in Article 17 of the CLP regulation, the label must include the following items: name, address and telephone number of the supplier(s), nominal quantity of the substance or the mixture in the package (only if meant for the general public), the product identifiers (substance or mixture).
If the product has a health or an environmental hazard, the label must also contain the following items: hazard pictograms , signal words, H statements, P statements and additional information.
In Belgium, the label must be at least written in the three national languages (French, Dutch and German).
Practical details
The hazard pictograms , signal words, H statements, P statements are placed together on the label. The H statements and P statements are grouped by language on the label.
The product identifier of a substance is defined in Article 18.2 of the regulation. It contains at least the following items: a name and an identification number in compliance with appendix VI or the CAS number if it exists and the IUPAC name. The product identifier of a mixture is defined in Article 18.3 of the regulation.
The pictograms can be downloaded without charge from the website of UNECE. If a product has several hazards and if several pictograms may be required, then check whether the priority rules defined in article 26 of the CLP regulation are applicable. These priority rules are illustrated in section 4.3 of the Guidance on labelling and packaging in accordance with the regulation (EC) no. 1272/2008.
The Hazard statements and the Precautionary statements must be written in full. Hazard statements are encoded by letter H followed by 3 digits (with first digit 1 for physico-chemical, 2 for health and 3 for environment).
Precautionary statements is encoded by letter P followed by 3 digits (with first digit being 1 for general, 2 for prevention, 3 for intervention, 4 for storage and 5 for elimination). In order to assist you in determining the suitable P phrases for your product, you can go through section 7 of the guide mentioned above.
In addition to this information, Article 25 of the CLP regulations introduces the concept of supplemental information that must appear in the section pertaining to "supplemental information" on the label. This information can be mandatory - European phrases, obligations from other legislations, etc. - or non-mandatory - specific instructions, etc.
In case of European phrases R 1,6,14,18,19,30,44,29,31,32 and 66, statements with code EUH have been added.
The non-mandatory information may neither misrepresent nor contradict the labelling items required under Article 17.
Dimension of the labels
Capacity of the package | Dimensions of the label (in millimetres) | Dimensions of each pictogram (in millimetres) |
3 litres maximum: | At least 52 x 74, if possible | Not smaller than 10 X 10 At least 16 x 16, if possible |
More than 3 litres and up to 50 litres: | At least 74 x 105 | At least 23 x 23 |
More than 50 litres and up to 500 litres: | At least 105 x 148 | At least 32 x 32 |
More than 500 litres: | At least 148 x 210 | At least 46 x 46 |