Norwegian Study: Products Sold Online Are Not Labeled in Accordance with Legislation

Inspectors from the Norwegian environmental directorate inspected 15 different Web sites selling automotive care products, adhesives, and building materials. They reached the sobering conclusion that none of the Web sites indicated the presence of hazardous contents in the products. The sellers thereby violated Article 48 Section 2 of the CLP Regulation: “Any advertisement for a mixture classified as hazardous or covered by Article 25(6) which allows a member of the general public to conclude a contract for purchase without first having sight of the label shall mention the type or types of hazard indicated on the label.”

The directorate informed the suppliers of the violations, all of whom then updated their Web sites. The inspectors summarized their results in a report (only in Norwegian) that they published at the beginning of June.

The legal violations highlighted by the Norwegians are not isolated cases. Inspecting agencies continually find a lack of adherence to the CLP Regulation throughout all sectors and product categories.

Another study that we reported on recently showed that more than every second product sold on the Scandinavian market did not meet the requirements of EU chemicals legislation.

The EU recognized these failures and is relying on the eighth major Forum enforcement project (REF-8) that has been running since the start of the year. The EU wants to make companies aware of their obligations when selling products online and ensure that national inspection agencies work more closely together in the future.

We are pleased to support you in all your concerns related to the EU chemicals legislation and the correct labelling of your products. Please contact us at reach@kft.de.