Press release - Chemicals: deal on simplification of cosmetics, fertiliser and labelling rules

- Cosmetics containing carcinogenic, mutagenic, and reprotoxic substances must be taken off the market faster than the Commission is proposing - Labels must remain legible for consumers - Simplification of fertiliser rules to benefit EU producers and farmers The changes will introduce greater flexibility to chemicals rules while maintaining high levels of protection for human health and the environment. On Tuesday night, Council and Parliament negotiators reached a political agreement on the Commission’s “omnibus VI” package to simplify provisions relating to cosmetics products, the classification, packaging, and labelling of chemicals (CLP), and fertilising products. Cosmetics The co-legislators agreed to phase out cosmetics containing prohibited CMR (carcinogenic, mutagenic and reprotoxic) substances faster than the Commission had proposed. Where a substance is not defended for continued use, companies will have — once the ban takes effect — 6 months to stop placing affected products on the market and 12 months before they can no longer be made available — as opposed to the Commission's 12 and 24 months, though still longer than the current rules, which set no staggered transition. Companies wanting to keep using a substance will have up to 12 months from its new classification to request a derogation, and the phase-out clock starts only once that request is decided. If the derogation is refused on safety grounds, the company will then have 3 months to stop placing products on the market and 9 months before they can no longer be made available. If it is refused due to the availability of a suitable alternative, 24 and 36 months. The co-legislators also decided against exempting CMR substances based on oral or inhalation exposure as otherwise proposed by the Commission and reintroduced the requirement for cosmetic products containing nanomaterials to be notified to the Commission prior to being placed on the market, but not 6 months prior as currently. To accelerate the replacement of hazardous substances in cosmetic products, the Commission will develop guidance specifying the analysis of alternatives one year after entry into force of this legislation. Classification, labelling and packaging of chemicals Co-legislators agreed on revisions to the recently amended CLP Regulation, to allow for more flexible rules for the classification and labelling of chemicals, including easy-to-read labels, wider use of digital labelling, and the easing of advertising rules to reduce costs and complexity, while ensuring consumer protection It was agreed that the label elements shall be legible for consumers. Where the substance is placed on the market for the public, the text of the label shall use a font size where the x-height is equal to or greater than 1.2 mm. When the contents of the package of the substance do not exceed 125 ml, the x-height must be equal to or greater than 0.9 mm. To address practical labelling challenges while ensuring that full hazard information remains available on the outer packaging, co-legislators agreed that, for chemical products in containers of 10 ml or less, some label elements — though not the hazard pictograms — may be provided on a digital label. To bring regulatory clarity and address possible public health concerns, co-legislators introduced a specific 15-month deadline for suppliers to update labels when a new evaluation leads to a more severe classification, instead of "without undue delay" as proposed by the Commission. To prevent fragmented implementation timelines, Parliament last year postponed application of most parts of the revised regulation on the classification, labelling, and packaging of chemicals to 1 January 2028. Fertilisers Co-legislators agreed to simplify the EU fertilising products regulation ((EU) 2019/1009) to support EU farmers and innovation and competitiveness in the EU fertilising products sector without compromising the protection of human health and the environment. While the Commission had proposed replacing the extended REACH registration requirement for substances used in fertilising products with the standard REACH regime, the co-legislators chose to retain a registration obligation for substances with a harmonised classification as particularly harmful. Quotes The rapporteur for the Environment, Climate and Food Safety Committee Dimitris Tsiodras (EPP, Greece) said: “With this agreement, we have demonstrated that simplification and a high level of protection can go hand in hand. We have reduced unnecessary burdens for businesses, strengthened the visibility of safety information for consumers and delivered greater legal certainty for industry, while fully preserving Europe’s high standards for health and environmental protection.” The rapporteur of the Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee Piotr Müller (ECR, Poland) said: “We welcome this trilogue agreement as a meaningful step forward for European industry. Our shared goal was to cut red tape and support growth across the chemical, cosmetics, and fertiliser sectors. Could we have gone further? Certainly. There are issues we will continue to push in future reviews. But today's outcome is a genuine win for EU competitiveness.” Next steps The informal agreement must now be endorsed by both Parliament and Council. It will then enter into force 20 days after it has been published in the EU Official Journal. Background The “chemicals omnibus” is part of a wider effort to simplify EU laws and ease administrative burdens, helping businesses innovate and grow in line with the Draghi report on EU competitiveness. The chemical industry consists of 29,000 companies providing 1.2 million direct jobs and supporting 19 million people across supply chains. According to the Commission, the proposed measures to reduce compliance costs and ease the administrative burden should save the industry at least €363 million a year. In July 2025, the Commission also presented a European chemicals industry action plan. Contacts: - Thomas HAAHR Press Officer