What are the requirements of an EU label?

All chemical substances which are imported into the European Union (EU) or manufactured there must have an EU label review. A substance or mixture classified as hazardous and contained in a packaging will have an EU label including the following elements:

1.Name, Address, Telephone Number of the supplier(s)
2.The nominal quantity of the substance or mixture in the package made available to the general public, unless this quantity is specified elsewhere on the package
3.Product identifiers:

I.the trade name or the designation of the mixture;
II.the identity of all substances in the mixture that contribute to the classification of the mixture as regards acute toxicity, skin corrosion or serious eye damage, germ cell mutagenicity, carcinogenicity, reproductive toxicity, respiratory or skin sensitisation, specific target organ toxicity or aspiration hazard.
4.EU SDS label will be written in the official language(s) of the Member State(s) where the substance or mixture is placed on the market, unless the Member State(s) concerned provide(s) otherwise
5.Suppliers may use more languages on their labels than those required by the Member States, provided that the same details appear in all languages used

The EU label requirement leads to the provision of multiple chemical names, a maximum of four chemical names shall suffice, unless more than four names are needed to reflect the nature and the severity of the hazards. The chemical names selected shall identify the substances primarily responsible for the major health hazards which have given rise to the classification and the choice of the corresponding hazard statements and other means of identification such as:

1.Hazard pictograms
2.Signal words
3.Hazard statements
4.Precautionary statements, and
5.Supplemental information

What is a NAFTA Material Safety Data Sheet ?

NAFTA or North American Free Trade Agreement MSDS is an authored fully compliant document in the North American countries which includes Canada, United States and Mexico under the following regulations:

1.Canadian standard: Hazardous Products Act & Controlled Products Regulations
2.US standard: 29 CFR 1910.1200 - Occupational Safety & Health Administration
3.Mexican standard: NOM-018-STPS-2000
4.North America: ANSI.Z400.1-2004

NAFTA is basically an agreement signed by the governments of the United States, Canada and Mexico creating a trilateral trade bloc in North America. The agreement came into force on January 1, 1994. It superseded the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement between the U.S. and Canada regulations under witch Material Safety Data Sheets are authored and are accepted throughout the whole North American continent today.

The goal of NAFTA was to eliminate barriers of trade and investment between the USA, Canada and Mexico. The implementation of NAFTA on January 1, 1994, brought the immediate elimination of tariffs on United States imports from Mexico and vice versa. Most US-Canada trade was already duty free. However, this agreement created one of the world’s largest free trade zones while laying the foundations for strong economic growth and rising prosperity for Canada, the United States, and Mexico.