Summary of when a substance needs to be classified

A substance may need to be classified when:

• it hasn’t been registered for REACH or notified to the C&L inventory, so there is no published CLP classification available
• there is no alternative classification which can be converted to CLP
• it is completely new to the EU
• it is being made or imported at less than 1 tonne per annum and will never be REACH-registered
• it is being imported as a component substance in a mixture, and there’s no data available on it in the EU

The physical hazards of substances can be assessed by using published data, or from new tests.

Health and environmental hazards of substances can be assessed using published data, from modelling or read-across, or, where there is no alternative, through animal testing.

In vitro tests, where available, should be used instead of live animal tests.  Animal testing should only be used where there is no other way of obtaining the data needed to classify the substance for CLP.  Screening tests should be used (as written into REACH) to ensure that un-necessary animal testing does not take place.