Update 23 October 2025:
The European Parliament has today approved the postponement of the revised CLP Regulation’s application date to 1 January 2028, confirming the text previously endorsed by the Council on 24 September 2025. The file was handled under the urgent procedure to speed up adoption, and the vote passed with 441 in favour, 108 against and 11 abstentions.
To enter into force, the draft law now requires formal approval by the Council, after which it will be published in the Official Journal of the European Union. The postponement covers obligations related to re-labelling, label formatting, advertising, distance sales, and fuel-pump labelling, easing the transition for companies.
Original Text:
On 24 September 2025, the
European Council approved the introduction of a “stop-the-clock” mechanism for
the revised Classification, Labelling and Packaging (CLP) Regulation. The
measure, part of the Commission’s Omnibus VI simplification package, delays the
entry into application of the new rules to 1 January 2028.
Purpose: Legal Certainty and
Simplification
The mechanism is designed to
provide legal certainty for businesses and to avoid a fragmented regulatory
framework. Without the postponement, different provisions of the revised CLP
would have applied on different dates, creating additional compliance
challenges for companies.
The alignment of deadlines covers
obligations on:
By postponing these obligations,
the European Council aims to give companies, particularly SMEs, more time to
adapt to the new requirements while ensuring continued protection of health and
the environment.
Background: Original Deadlines
The revised CLP Regulation
entered into force on 10 December 2024, with the majority of obligations
initially scheduled to apply from 1 July 2026, and some provisions from 2027
(see more details here).
The “stop-the-clock” mechanism shifts all these dates to 1 January 2028,
creating a single, harmonised starting point for compliance.
Next Steps in the Legislative
Process
Following the European Council’s
approval, negotiations will continue with the European Parliament to finalise
the regulation. The measure forms part of the broader Omnibus VI package, which
seeks to simplify EU chemicals legislation while maintaining high levels of
health and environmental protection.