Shortly before the expiry of an important transitional period, Annex II to the REACH Regulation (EU) No 1907/2006 was amended once again and a new transitional period was introduced.
This will take some of the pressure off manufacturers and formulators. Otherwise, two conflicting amendments to Annex II would have come into force simultaneously on 1 June. For all chemicals placed on the market by 31 May 2015 under the previous system (orange symbols, etc.), the safety data sheet need only be updated (and then made available to customers) by 31 May 2017 as an exception! This means there is now a two-year transition period for safety data sheets that were already in existence by 31 May 2015.
However, this only applies to safety data sheets that were drawn up correctly by 31 May 2015, i.e.:
1. The following applies generally to substances, but also to mixtures that were voluntarily converted to GHS (CLP) before 1 June 2015: safety data sheets must comply with Annex I of EU Regulation No 453/2010. This Annex I describes Annex II of the REACH Regulation during the transition phase from the EU classification and labelling system (orange symbols, R and S phrases) to the GHS classification and labelling system (diamond-shaped symbols with a red border, the signal words "Warning" or "Danger", and H and P phrases)
2. For mixtures that were lawfully placed on the market before 1 June 2015 whilst still bearing the orange labelling, the safety data sheet does not need to be fully aligned with the GHS (CLP) until 31 May 2017, and must then, at the latest, comply with the attached new Annex II in accordance with EU Regulation 2015/830.
For all new chemicals placed on the market for the first time on or after 1 June 2015, the safety data sheet must comply with Annex II in accordance with EU Regulation 2015/830 at the time of delivery, i.e. it must include CLP symbols and H-statements.
Consequently, we will unfortunately have to continue to use both labels in the lists of hazardous substances for some time to come.
Your contact: Frank Schüle | Head of Occupational Health and Safety/Environment, QUBUS GmbH | schuele[at]qubus.de | Tel. +49 7171 10408-17