Safety data sheet requirements in the EU: when you owe one, to whom, and what goes in it

A safety data sheet, or SDS, is the document that travels with a chemical product from one business to the next. It tells the business that uses it what the hazards are and how to handle, store and dispose of it safely at work (Annex II, section 0.2.1). In the EU it is set by REACH, Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006, REACH (chemicals)The whole regulationClick opens the law on the EU Publications Office.: Art. 31Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006, REACH (chemicals)Article 31Click opens the article on EUR-Lex. says when a sheet is owed and to whom, and Annex II says what goes in it. Annex II was last replaced in full by Regulation (EU) 2020/878.

When a safety data sheet is required

“The supplier of a substance or a mixture shall provide the recipient of the substance or mixture with a safety data sheet compiled in accordance with Annex II” (Art. 31(1)Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006, REACH (chemicals)Article 31, paragraph 1Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.) in three cases. Art. 31(3)Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006, REACH (chemicals)Article 31, paragraph 3Click opens the article on EUR-Lex. and the notes to three tables in Annex I of CLP add the cases where a mixture that is not classified gets one on request.

For the sensitisers, CLP’s note says a sheet is required; whether that means unasked is set out under “What the law leaves open” below. For an endocrine disruptor category 2, “a SDS shall be available for the mixture upon request” (Annex I, Table 3.11.2, Note 1, and Table 4.2.2, Note 1, of CLP). CLP applies its endocrine disruptor criteria to mixtures from 1 May 2026, and to a mixture already on the market before then from 1 May 2028 (Annex I, sections 3.11.3.4 and 4.2.3.4, of CLP). A mixture from the on-request rows that is not intended for the general public carries “Safety data sheet available on request”, EUH210, on its label. The one exception is a mixture caught only by a PBT, vPvB or Candidate List substance, which that list leaves out (Annex II, section 2.10, of CLP).

The classification comes from CLP. Section 2 of your supplier’s sheet states it, or states that the mixture is not classified (Annex II, section 2.1). Section 3 lists the substances in the mixture with their concentrations and their own classification, which is how you see whether the on-request rows apply (Annex II, section 3.2).

Who gets the safety data sheet, and who does not

The sheet goes to the “recipient”: “a downstream user or a distributor being supplied with a substance or a mixture” (Art. 3(34)Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006, REACH (chemicals)Article 3, point 34Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). A downstream user is a business in the EU that uses the product “in the course of his industrial or professional activities”; “a distributor or a consumer is not a downstream user” (Art. 3(13)Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006, REACH (chemicals)Article 3, point 13Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). A distributor is a business in the EU, “including a retailer”, that “only stores and places on the market” the product for others (Art. 3(14)Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006, REACH (chemicals)Article 3, point 14Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). So a cleaning company, a workshop, a salon or a shop that resells is a recipient. A consumer is not.

For sales to consumers the law says: “The safety data sheet need not be supplied where hazardous substances or mixtures offered or sold to the general public are provided with sufficient information to enable users to take the necessary measures as regards the protection of human health, safety and the environment, unless requested by a downstream user or distributor” (Art. 31(4)Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006, REACH (chemicals)Article 31, paragraph 4Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). A consumer has no right to the sheet. A business that buys the same product from a consumer channel does, once it asks.

A business that receives the sheet must let its workers and their representatives see it (Art. 35Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006, REACH (chemicals)Article 35Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.).

What goes in the 16 sections

A safety data sheet is dated and carries these 16 headings, in this order (Art. 31(6)Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006, REACH (chemicals)Article 31, paragraph 6Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.), with the subheadings listed in Annex II, Part B. It has no fixed length. Every page is numbered and shows either the total, such as “page 1 of 3”, or whether a page follows (Annex II, section 0.3). No subsection is left blank (Annex II, section 0.4).

Where a business in the chain had to prepare a chemical safety report under Article 14Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006, REACH (chemicals)Article 14Click opens the article on EUR-Lex. or 37Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006, REACH (chemicals)Article 37Click opens the article on EUR-Lex. of REACH, a registrant or a downstream user, the relevant exposure scenarios go in an annex to the sheet (Art. 31(7)Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006, REACH (chemicals)Article 31, paragraph 7Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.; Annex II, section 0.1.2).

Who writes the safety data sheet and who passes it on

REACH puts the duty on the “supplier of a substance or a mixture”: “any manufacturer, importer, downstream user or distributor placing on the market a substance, on its own or in a mixture, or a mixture” (Art. 3(32)Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006, REACH (chemicals)Article 3, point 32Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). Placing on the market means supplying it to anyone else, paid or free, and import counts as placing on the market (Art. 3(12)Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006, REACH (chemicals)Article 3, point 12Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). The sheet is written by “a competent person” who has been trained for it (Annex II, section 0.2.3). The business that supplies the sheet names itself in section 1.3, with a full address, a phone number and the email of the competent person responsible for the sheet (Annex II, section 1.3).

Every business in the chain keeps the information it needs for its REACH duties, the sheets included, for at least 10 years after it last made, imported, supplied or used the product, and hands it to the authorities on request (Art. 36(1)Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006, REACH (chemicals)Article 36, paragraph 1Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.).

When the safety data sheet must be updated

“Suppliers shall update the safety data sheet without delay” on three occasions (Art. 31(9)Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006, REACH (chemicals)Article 31, paragraph 9Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.):

• as soon as new information that may affect the risk management measures, or new information on hazards, becomes available;
• once an authorisation has been granted or refused;
• once a restriction has been imposed.

The new version carries “Revision: (date)” on its first page, with the version it replaces (Annex II, section 0.2.5). It goes, free of charge, on paper or electronically, to every business you supplied in the preceding 12 months (Art. 31(9)Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006, REACH (chemicals)Article 31, paragraph 9Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). Section 16 shows where the sheet changed, “unless such indication is given elsewhere in the safety data sheet” (Annex II, section 16(a); section 0.2.5).

The format itself last changed with Regulation (EU) 2020/878. It applied from 1 January 2021, and sheets in the older format could still be handed out until 31 December 2022 (Articles 2 and 3 of Regulation (EU) 2020/878). A sheet dated before 2021 that has not been revised since was most likely written to the old format.

What to give when no safety data sheet is required

A supplier of a substance, on its own or in a mixture, that does not have to supply a safety data sheet still gives its business customer four things (Art. 32(1)Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006, REACH (chemicals)Article 32, paragraph 1Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.):

• the REACH registration number, where one is available, for any substance covered by the three points below;
• whether the substance needs an authorisation, and any authorisation granted or refused in this supply chain;
• any restriction on the substance;
• any other available and relevant information needed to identify and apply the right risk management measures.

It goes free of charge, on paper or electronically, at the latest with the first delivery (Art. 32(2)Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006, REACH (chemicals)Article 32, paragraph 2Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.), and it is updated and re-sent on the same three occasions as a safety data sheet (Art. 32(3)Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006, REACH (chemicals)Article 32, paragraph 3Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.).

When your product is an article, not a substance or mixture

The safety data sheet rules of Art. 31Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006, REACH (chemicals)Article 31Click opens the article on EUR-Lex. are written for substances and mixtures. An article is “an object which during production is given a special shape, surface or design which determines its function to a greater degree than does its chemical composition” (Art. 3(3)Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006, REACH (chemicals)Article 3, point 3Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). A phone case, a shirt or a bracelet is an article, and no safety data sheet is owed for it.

An article has its own information duty instead. If it holds a Candidate List substance above 0.1% by weight, the business you supply gets the information you hold that it needs for safe use, at least the name of the substance, and a consumer who asks gets the same, free, within 45 days (Art. 33Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006, REACH (chemicals)Article 33Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). That duty is set out in REACH compliance for products.

How the safety data sheet and the CLP label fit together

The label and the sheet are two outputs of one classification.

• Same name. The product identifier on the CLP label is “the same as that used in the safety data sheet” (Art. 18(1)Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008, CLP (classification, labelling and packaging), consolidated text of 1 January 2027Article 18, paragraph 1Click opens the article on EUR-Lex. of CLP). Section 1.1 of the sheet gives the identifier “as provided on the label” (Annex II, section 1.1).
• Same hazards. Section 2 of the sheet gives the classification and at least the pictograms, the signal word, the hazard statements and the precautionary statements that appear on the label (Annex II, sections 2.1 and 2.2). The label carries the same elements (Art. 17(1)Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008, CLP (classification, labelling and packaging), consolidated text of 1 January 2027Article 17, paragraph 1Click opens the article on EUR-Lex. of CLP).
• Same languages. Both go in the official language of each EU country where the product is sold (Art. 17(2)Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008, CLP (classification, labelling and packaging), consolidated text of 1 January 2027Article 17, paragraph 2Click opens the article on EUR-Lex. of CLP; Art. 31(5)Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006, REACH (chemicals)Article 31, paragraph 5Click opens the article on EUR-Lex. of REACH).
• The UFI. Where a mixture has a UFI and the sheet gives it, it sits in section 1.1 (Annex II, section 1.1). For a mixture that is not packaged, the UFI goes in the sheet or in the copy of the label elements. For a packaged mixture supplied for use at an industrial site, the UFI may go in the sheet instead of on the label or packaging (Annex VIII, Part A, section 5.3, of CLP). Everywhere else it goes on the label, or on the packaging next to the other label elements, as set out in CLP label and UFI code. The submission the UFI belongs to is on poison centre notification.

What happens if you do nothing

Each EU country runs official controls on REACH (Art. 125Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006, REACH (chemicals)Article 125Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.) and sets the penalties for breaking it, which must be “effective, proportionate and dissuasive” (Art. 126Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006, REACH (chemicals)Article 126Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). REACH is on the list of Union harmonisation legislation in Annex I to Regulation (EU) 2019/1020Regulation (EU) 2019/1020, Market Surveillance RegulationThe whole regulationClick opens the law on the EU Publications Office. (point 22). So market surveillance authorities can require you to bring the product into compliance, stop it being sold, withdraw or recall it, or destroy it (Art. 16(3)Regulation (EU) 2019/1020, Market Surveillance RegulationArticle 16, paragraph 3Click opens the article on EUR-Lex. of Regulation (EU) 2019/1020Regulation (EU) 2019/1020, Market Surveillance RegulationThe whole regulationClick opens the law on the EU Publications Office.).

What the law leaves open

• A seller outside the EU shipping straight to an EU business. Every REACH role that carries the sheet duty is defined as established in the EU (Art. 3(9)Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006, REACH (chemicals)Article 3, point 9Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 3(11)Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006, REACH (chemicals)Article 3, point 11Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 3(13)Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006, REACH (chemicals)Article 3, point 13Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 3(14)Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006, REACH (chemicals)Article 3, point 14Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). The importer is the EU business “responsible for import” (Art. 3(11)Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006, REACH (chemicals)Article 3, point 11Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). No article says who that is when an EU business buys from a non-EU web shop. In our reading it is the EU buyer, which then needs an Annex II sheet in its own language to meet its own duties. Meanwhile, send every EU business customer a sheet in Annex II format and in its language.
• Whose name a reseller puts in section 1.3. “The supplier of the safety data sheet, whether it is the manufacturer, importer, only representative, downstream user or distributor, shall be identified” (Annex II, section 1.3). A distributor that passes on its supplier’s sheet is then the supplier of that sheet. No article says whether it replaces the maker’s details with its own or adds its own next to them. In our reading, add your own name, address, phone and email to the sheet you hand on, and keep the maker’s.
• Whether a sensitiser line triggers the sheet unasked. For a mixture that is not classified, REACH gives the sheet “at his request” when it holds 0.1% of a sensitiser category 1 (Art. 31(3)(b)Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006, REACH (chemicals)Article 31, paragraph 3, point (b)Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). CLP’s note to its sensitiser table says “A SDS is required for the mixture containing a component at or above this concentration”, and sets that line at 0.01% for sub-category 1A (Annex I, Table 3.4.6, Note 1, of CLP). The label statement CLP prescribes for such a mixture reads “Safety data sheet available on request” (Annex II, section 2.10, of CLP). No article says whether “required” means unasked. In our reading it means on request, as REACH and EUH210 say. Meanwhile, send the sheet with the first delivery to every business customer once a sensitiser crosses its line.
• What “sufficient information” means for a consumer product. Art. 31(4)Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006, REACH (chemicals)Article 31, paragraph 4Click opens the article on EUR-Lex. spares products sold to the general public that come with “sufficient information” for safe use. REACH does not define it. In our reading, a complete CLP label with its precautionary statements is the minimum.
• Whether a download link counts as supplying the sheet. The sheet “shall be provided free of charge on paper or electronically” (Art. 31(8)Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006, REACH (chemicals)Article 31, paragraph 8Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). The text does not say whether a file on your website that the customer must find is “provided”. In our reading, send the sheet or its link to each business customer with the first delivery.
• Candles and wax melts. REACH gives sheets for substances and mixtures, not articles, and an article is an object whose shape, surface or design decides its function more than its chemistry (Art. 3(3)Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006, REACH (chemicals)Article 3, point 3Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). No article of REACH names candles. The fragrance oil you buy to make them is a substance or a mixture and comes with its own sheet. The same question for the CLP label is set out in CLP label.