The EU has officially postponed the application of key labelling and marking obligations from the revised CLP Regulation. The Council gave the final green light for the „stop-the-clock“ regulation, under which several new requirements on labelling, label formats and relabelling will not apply until 1 January 2028.
As part of the amendment that has now been adopted, all relevant transitional periods relating to the labelling of chemicals will be postponed until 2028. This includes mandatory new labelling layouts, format requirements, information for advertising and requirements for online and distance sales. The newly introduced labelling requirements for petrol pumps will also take effect later. The postponement is in response to considerable implementation burdens for companies, especially for small and medium-sized manufacturers, importers and retailers. Originally, individual labelling provisions were to take effect on 1 July 2026, others on 1 January 2027.
Focus on relieving labelling obligations
The measure is part of the Omnibus VI package, with which the EU wants to simplify chemical legislation. The first part relates exclusively to the postponement and is intended to give companies sufficient time to align their labelling, packaging processes and digital sales platforms with the new standard requirements. In parallel, Parliament and the Council are negotiating further substantive amendments to the CLP Regulation, for which the Council adopted a mandate on 5 November 2025.
Legal certainty for labels and online labelling
According to Marie Bjerre, Danish Minister for European Affairs, the postponement creates „time and legal certainty for companies“, while the EU is working on simplifications that are intended to strengthen competitiveness and safety standards in equal measure. For stakeholders along the chemicals supply chain, this means planning certainty when revising their labelling and marking structures, which are to be more standardised and digitally supported in future.
Entry into force
The amendment will be published shortly in the Official Journal of the EU and will enter into force 20 days later. The postponed labelling and labelling requirements will become binding from 1 January 2028.
Source: European Council
