ROHS Compliance

In February 2026, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) issued its Pilot Project Report on Poison Centre Notification (PCN) enforcement. The findings indicate that of the 1,597 mixtures inspected during the first half of 2025, 19% of companies had not fulfilled their obligation to submit the required PCNs to poison centres. In addition, 15% of product labels were missing the mandatory Unique Formula Identifier (UFI). 

Background 

Under Article 45 of the CLP Regulation, EU importers and downstream users placing hazardous mixtures on the market—particularly those presenting physical or health hazardsmust provide poison centres with complete information on the mixture’s composition (100% of components) and other relevant details. 

Non-EU suppliers wishing to safeguard confidential business information may appoint an EU-based legal entity to submit a voluntary notification on their behalf. In such cases, submission of the UFI alone is sufficient to protect detailed composition data from disclosure. 

Participation Overview 

  • Participating countries: 18 (around two-thirds of EU/EEA Member States) 

  • Total mixtures inspected: 1,597 

  • Inspection approaches: 

  • On-site inspections: 28% 

  • Desktop checks: 32% 

  • Combined methods: 41% 

  • Product categories reviewed: 

  • Consumer products: 83% 

  • Professional-use products: 39% 

  • Industrial-use products: 18% 

 

Key Results 

  • Overall compliance rate: 

  • SMEs: 59% 

  • Large enterprises: 58% 

  • PCN submission compliance: 81% (19% non-compliant) 

  • UFI presence on labels (where required): 88% 

  • UFI missing from labels: 15% 

  • Correct UFI format usage: 98% 

  • Consistency between PCN and label information: 87% 

  • Consistency between PCN and SDS: 73% 

Main Compliance Deficiencies 

  • Failure to submit required PCNs (19%) – most frequent violation 

  • Discrepancies between PCN and SDS data (17%), mainly concerning mixture composition and toxicological details 

  • Mismatch between PCN and label information (13%), particularly label elements, trade names, and volume 

  • Absence of UFI on labels (15%) 

  • Absence of UFI on SDSs (25%, where mandatory) 

  • Reuse of the same UFI for different formulations (approximately 1%) 

Responsible Party Insights 

  • Largest group of PCN submitters: 

  • Downstream users (44%) 

  • Importers (19%) 

  • Highest rates of non-submission: 

  • Downstream users (28%) 

  • Distributors (23%) 

  • Importers (19%) 

Enforcement Actions Taken 

  • Written advice: 68% 

  • Verbal advice: 15% 

  • Administrative orders: 11% 

  • Fines: 5% 

  • Criminal complaints: 4% 

Recommended Next Steps 

ECHA outlined several targeted recommendations: 

  • European Commission: Revise Article 45 of the CLP Regulation to enable enforcement authorities to directly access national PCN databases. 

  • Member States: Develop national procedures that allow enforcement bodies to retrieve relevant PCN data while maintaining confidentiality safeguards. 

  • Industry associations: Increase awareness efforts regarding UFI and notification obligations, emphasizing that the transitional period concluded in January 2025. 

  • Consumers: Improve recognition of hazardous mixture labels and understand the purpose and importance of the UFI.