ECHA says over 3.1 million chemical classification and labeling notifications received in Europe

By the January 3, 2011 deadline, the European Chemical Agency (ECHA) received 3,114,835 notifications of 24,529 substances under its Classification, Labelling and Packaging (CLP) regulation.  All of these notifications go on the C&L Inventory and are accessible on ECHA's website.  Any chemical substance that is hazardous or subject to registration under REACH were required to be notified.  In their press release, ECHA Executive Director Geert Dancet noted:

This is a perfect start for the International Year of Chemistry. The Classification and Labelling Inventory, which will be publicly available later this year, will significantly improve safety by providing up-to-date information on all the hazardous substances that are on the EU market today.

Many manufacturers and importers notified as part of their REACH registration that was due November 30, 2010.  But others who produced or imported less than 1000 metric tons per year, and thus have either a 2013 or 2018 REACH registration deadline, were also required to notify if their substances or mixtures were classified as hazardous according to the CLP.

As expected, the big three chemical manufacturing countries in the EU - Germany, the UK and France - were the source of the greatest number of notifications.  Between them they accounted for over half of all the notifications received.

What if you missed the deadline for notification? Do it NOW!  ECHA has provided some Q&A on the C&L Inventory and notification procedures if you haven't do so already.

More details on the notifications can be found in this PDF.