Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assistance and advice his Department plans to make available to small businesses seeking to comply with Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008 on classification, labelling and packaging of substances and mixtures.

Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008 on classification, labelling and packaging of substances and mixtures (the CLP Regulation) is a single market measure that acts directly in all European Union (EU) Member States. Supporting guidance is provided at EU level by the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), in partnership with Member States. The guidance is routinely reviewed to ensure it reflects practical compliance experience and continues to support chemical suppliers both small and large.

The CLP regulation requires every Member State to establish a national CLP Helpdesk to provide compliance advice. The HSE acts as the UK CLP competent authority and, as part of this function, has provided the Helpdesk since 2009. It provides a suite of webpages that introduce the key duties in CLP, and steer visitors to the ECHA guidance. Additionally, the HSE will consider the feasibility of developing an on-line tool to help small businesses comply with the regulation.