Products with hazardous chemicals to be labelled from January

All chemical products containing hazardous substances will be obliged to have a unique formula identifier (UFI) code as of January 1, 2025, the labour inspection department announced on Monday.

According to data gathered from European poison centres, for about 40 per cent of calls it is impossible to quickly identify the chemical that caused an accident or poisoning.

The UFI code was created to solve this problem, with manufacturers and suppliers being obliged as of January 2025 to submit information online regarding the chemical composition and risk level of chemical products in the European market.

The 16-digit code includes four groups of numbers and letters, separated with a dash and preceded by the acronym ‘UFI’.

The UFI code will be printed on the labels of chemical products for consumers and professionals.

Industrial use chemical products will have the UFI printed on the safety data sheet.

All products with a UFI code will have their contents listed in the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) database and the EU gateway.

The information will be confidential and accessible only to poison centres and EU member authorities.

For Cyprus, the authority is the labour inspection department.

Products which could carry a UFI code are household and vehicle cleaning products, detergents, pool chemicals, room fragrances, scented candles, art supplies, e-cigarette fluids, fertilisers, insecticides, lighter fuel, ink cartridges and glues, to name a few.

Cosmetics, hair products and pharmaceuticals will not carry the code, as they come under different legislation.