Information on sale of Chemicals – REACH and CLP

REACH is the European regulation on chemicals and their safe use. It deals with the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemical substances. Under the REACH regulation, manufactures and importers are generally required to collect information on the properties of chemical substances present in their products, which could be subject to registration, authorisation, restrictions or information provision requirements. In addition, distributors can also be subject to REACH restrictions and information provision requirements.

It is your responsibility to comply with REACH. This material is for informational purposes only. It is not intended as legal advice. We encourage you to consult your legal counsel if you have questions about the laws and regulations concerning your product.

General information

REACH applies to all chemical substances and mixtures manufactured in or imported into the EEA (European Economic Area: all the member states of the EU plus Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein) as well as articles containing certain dangerous or hazardous chemical substances or mixtures.

Authorisation (Annex XIV): Particularly hazardous chemical substances cannot be used in the EEA unless they have been authorised for that particular use. These chemical substances are added to REACH’s Annex XIV Authorisation List, which is available on the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) website (see Additional Information below).

Restriction (Annex XVII): Use of certain hazardous chemical substances is restricted, including limits or banning the manufacture, placing on the market or use in the EEA. This includes restrictions for use as a substance, in mixtures and articles. A complete list of restrictions as listed in REACH’s Annex XVII is available on the ECHA website.

Registration: Manufacturers and importers are generally responsible for the registration of the substances they manufacture or import above a certain threshold (1000 kg per year). The registration includes collecting information on the properties and uses of the substance to be registered.

Provision of Information: Manufacturers, importers and distributors are all generally responsible for communicating information about hazardous products up and down the supply chain in certain situations, which may include the provision of a Safety Data Sheet (SDS) for certain hazardous substances and mixtures.

Any presence of a “candidate list” substance (also known as a Substance of Very High Concern (SVHC)) in an article in a concentration above 0.1% by weight must be actively communicated to the downstream user of the product. The communication must include safe use information for the article, with as a minimum, the name of the particular SVHC. Where the recipient of the article is a final consumer, this safe use information only needs to be provided upon request (within 45 days and free of charge).

It is your responsibility to provide accurate and complete product information about REACH-regulated products. If your products are regulated under REACH, verify that your products are eligible for sale in the EEA and please provide us with the most up to date SDS.

Professional Use Only Chemicals

Amazon does not allow the sale of professional use only chemicals. Please check with the manufacturer/SDS or product label to see if your product is professional use only. In the event that chemicals for professional use only are received at an Amazon Fulfilment Centre (FC), Amazon may, at your cost and without compensation, dispose of the units.

We strongly encourage you to visit the following sites for more information on REACH.

• UK REACH Helpdesk, http://www.hse.gov.uk/reach/helpdesk.htm
• All EU National helpdesks for REACH Regulations, https://echa.europa.eu/support/helpdesks
• European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) on REACH, https://echa.europa.eu/regulations/reach/understanding-reach

In addition to REACH, the Regulation for Classification, Labelling and Packaging of Substances and Mixtures (CLP Regulation) may apply to your products. The CLP Regulation incorporates the classification criteria and labelling rules for hazardous chemical substances and mixtures agreed at United Nations level, the so-called Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS). The GHS pictograms can be found here.

There are certain other mandatory labelling requirements that you must ensure you comply with, including for example, labelling the hazardous substances with the supplier’s name, address and telephone number.

Application

The CLP Regulation applies to all substances and mixtures imported, manufactured, or placed on the market within the EEA, unless otherwise exempted. Examples of products regulated under CLP are paints, detergents, glues, spray paints and pesticides.

There are certain exemptions to the regulation for the following materials in their finished state only:

• Articles (including products with non-accessible hazardous chemical substances and mixtures, such as, batteries)
• Food and feeding stuffs
• Cosmetics
• Medical devices (human)
• Medicinal products (human and veterinary)

To determine if your product is regulated under CLP we recommend you take the following steps:

• Contact the manufacturer and ask if the product is regulated under the CLP.
• Check the Safety Data Sheet (SDS) (previously also known as Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS)) or the label of the product to determine if there are CLP classifications on it. If you do not have an SDS for the product, the manufacturer or your supplier should have the document available.

Chemicals Prohibited from Amazon Fulfilment Centres (FC)

You must not ship any products to Amazon that are prohibited from entering an FC. Amazon may at your cost and without compensation to you, dispose of any such units. Note that products classified, labelled and packed in accordance with outdated legislation (such as the Dangerous Preparations Directive and Dangerous Substances Directive) cannot be accepted at Amazon FCs.

Products which bear any of the following CLP hazard (H) or precautionary (P) statements are prohibited from entering an Amazon FC:

EUH001	Explosive when dry
EUH006	Explosive with or without contact with air
EUH014	Reacts violently with water
EUH018	In use may form flammable/explosive vapour-air mixture
EUH019	May form explosive peroxides
EUH029	Contact with water liberates toxic gas
EUH031	Contact with acids liberates toxic gas
EUH032	Contact with acids liberates very toxic gas
EUH044	Risk of explosion if heated under confinement
EUH059	Hazardous to the ozone layer
H200	Unstable explosive
H201	Explosive; mass explosion hazard
H202	Explosive; severe projection hazard
H203	Explosive; fire, blast or projection hazard
H240	Heating may cause an explosion
H241	Heating may cause a fire or explosion
H250	Catches fire spontaneously if exposed to air
H251	Self-heating; may catch fire
H252	Self-heating in large quantities; may catch fire
H260	In contact with water releases flammable gases which may ignite spontaneously
H261	In contact with water releases flammable gas
H300	Fatal if swallowed
H301	Toxic if swallowed
H304	May be fatal if swallowed and enters airways
H310	Fatal in contact with skin
H311	Toxic in contact with skin
H330	Fatal if inhaled
H331	Toxic if inhaled
H340	May cause genetic defects
H341	Suspected of causing genetic defects
H350	May cause cancer
H351	Suspected of causing cancer
H360	May damage fertility or the unborn child
H361	Suspected of damaging fertility or the unborn child
H362	May cause harm to breastfed children
H370	Causes damage to organs
H371	May cause damage to organs
H372	Causes damage to organs through prolonged or repeated exposure
H373	May cause damage to organs through prolonged or repeated exposure
P222	Do not allow contact with air
P223	Keep away from any possible contact with water, because of violent reaction and possible flash fire
P230	Keep wetted with (insert manufacturer specification)
P231	Handle under inert gas
P406	Store in a corrosive resistant (insert manufacturer specification) container with a resistant inner liner
P407	Maintain air gap between stacks/pallets

Special Packaging Rules

It is your responsibility to comply with the special packaging rules in the CLP regulation for tactile warnings and child-resistant fastenings for all applicable products. An overview of the different hazards that trigger child-resistant fastenings or tactile warnings for chemical substances and mixtures is provided by the ECHA: https://echa.europa.eu/regulations/clp/labelling/specific-labelling-and-packaging-situations.

CLP Product Labelling

It is your responsibility to ensure that your CLP-regulated products are labelled appropriately (including the relevant hazard (H) statements, precautionary (P) statements and/or pictograms) and that all such product information is available on the label in the official language of the Member State(s) where you offer your product for sale or supply.

Product Listings

It is your responsibility to provide accurate and complete product information, including applicable warning messages as required by the CLP regulation. In order to add applicable warnings to your product listings, you should do the following:

• Determine if the CLP Regulation based on (EC) No 1272/2008 on the classification, labelling and packaging of substances and mixtures, or simply CLP, applies to your product. This may be verified by contacting the manufacturer or checking the product labelling.
• If your products are regulated under CLP, verify that your products are eligible for sale on Amazon and, if you want to list them, provide us with the most updated SDS when setting up a new item.
• Please also provide us with high-quality pictures of your product clearly showing all applicable warnings.

We strongly encourage you to visit the following sites for more information on CLP.

• HSE Chemical Classification
• All EU National helpdesks under the CLP Regulation
• ECHA on CLP