Council Directive 79/831/EEC of 18 September 1979 amending for the sixth time Directive 67/548/EEC on the approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions relating to the classification, packaging and labelling of dangerous substances

• Published date: 15 October 1979
• Subject Matter: Consumer protection,Environment,Approximation of laws,Technical barriers,Internal market - Principles
• Official Gazette Publication: Official Journal of the European Communities, L 259, 15 October 1979

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Council Directive 79/831/EEC of 18 September 1979 amending for the sixth time Directive 67/548/EEC on the approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions relating to the classification, packaging and labelling of dangerous substances

Official Journal L 259 , 15/10/1979 P. 0010 - 0028
Finnish special edition: Chapter 13 Volume 10 P. 0118
Greek special edition: Chapter 13 Volume 9 P. 0013
Swedish special edition: Chapter 13 Volume 10 P. 0118
Spanish special edition: Chapter 13 Volume 10 P. 0228
Portuguese special edition Chapter 13 Volume 10 P. 0228

COUNCIL DIRECTIVE of 19 September 1979 amending for the sixth time Directive 67/548/EEC on the approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions relating to the classification, packaging and labelling of dangerous substances (79/831/EEC)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, and in particular Article 100 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament (1),

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (2),

Whereas to protect man and the environment against potential risks which could arise from the placing on the market of new substances, it is necessary to lay down appropriate measures and in particular to reinforce the recommendations provided in Council Directive 67/548/EEC of 27 June 1967 on the approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions relating to the classification, packaging and labelling of dangerous substances (3), as last amended by Directive 75/409/EEC (4);

Whereas it is necessary for these reasons to amend Directive 67/548/EEC which at the moment by an adequate classification, packaging and labelling of dangerous substances protects the population and principally the workers using them;

Whereas in order to control the effects on man and the environment it is advisable that any new substance placed on the market be subjected to a prior study by the manufacturer or importer and a notification to the competent authorities conveying mandatorily certain information ; whereas it is, moreover, important to follow closely the evolution and use of new substances placed on the market, and that in order to do this it is necessary to institute a system which allows all new substances to be listed;

Whereas, moreover, it is necessary, if the Directive is to be properly applied, to draw up an inventory of substances on the Community market by 18 September 1981;

Whereas it is necessary to provide for measures making it possible to introduce a procedure of notification to one Member State which is then valid for the Community ; whereas, it is, moreover, necessary to provide that the measures relating to the classification and labelling of substances may be laid down at Community level;

Whereas it is necessary to introduce measures for the packaging and provisional labelling of dangerous substances not yet appearing in Annex I to Directive 67/548/EEC;

Whereas it is necessary to make the indication of safety advice obligatory;

Whereas Article 2 of the abovementioned Directive classifies substances and preparations as toxic, harmful, corrosive or irritant by the use of general definitions ; whereas experience has shown that it is necessary to improve this classification ; whereas in the absence, at the moment, of specifications necessary for allocation to these classes, it seems appropriate to provide precise criteria for classification ; whereas in addition Article 3 of the Directive provides for an evaluation of danger for the environment and it is therefore necessary to enumerate certain characteristics and parameters of assessment, and to establish a phased study programme,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:

Article 1

Articles 1 to 8 of Directive 67/548/EEC are hereby replaced by the following Articles:

"Article 1 1. The purpose of this Directive is to approximate the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States on: (1)OJ No C 30, 7.2.1977, p. 35. (2)OJ No C 114, 11.5.1977, p. 20. (3)OJ No 196, 16.8.1967, p. 1. (4)OJ No L 183, 14.7.1975, p. 22. (a) the notification of substances, and

(b) the classification, packaging and labelling of substances dangerous to man and the environment,

which are placed on the market in the Member States.

2. This Directive does not apply to the provisions relating to: (a) medicinal products, narcotics and radioactive substances;

(b) the carriage of dangerous substances by rail, road, inland waterway, sea or air;

(c) foodstuffs or feedingstuffs;

(d) substances in the form of waste which are covered by Council Directive 75/442/EEC of 15 July 1975 relating to waste (1) and Council Directive 78/319/EEC of 20 March 1978 relating to toxic and dangerous waste (2);

(e) substances in transit which are under customs supervision provided they do not undergo any treatment or processing.

3. Articles 15, 16 and 17 do not apply to the provisions governing: (a) containers which contain gases compressed, liquefied or dissolved under pressure, excluding aerosols which comply with the requirements of Council Directive 75/324/EEC of 20 May 1975 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to aerosol dispensers (3);

(b) munitions and explosives placed on the market with a view to producing a practical effect by explosion or a pyrotechnic effect.

4. Articles 5, 6 and 7, in so far as they are concerned with notification, do not apply: (a) - until six months after publication of the inventory referred to in Article 13 (1), to substances placed on the market before 18 September 1981;

- six months after publication of the inventory referred to in Article 13 (1), to substances which appear in that inventory;

(b) to pesticides and fertilizers, in as far as they are subject to approval procedures which are at least equivalent or Community notification procedures or procedures which are not yet harmonized;

(c) to substances which are already subject to similar testing and notification requirements under existing Directives.

Article 2

1. For the purpose of this Directive: (a) "substances" means chemical elements and their compounds as they occur in the natural state or as produced by industry, including any additives required for the purpose of placing them on the market;

(b) "preparations" means mixtures or solutions composed of two or more substances;

(c) "environment" means water, air and land and their inter-relationship as well as relationships between them and any living organisms;

(d) "notification" means the documents whereby the manufacturer or any other person established in the Community who places a substance on its own or in a preparation on the market presents the requisite information to the competent authority of a Member State. The person so doing shall hereinafter be referred to as "the notifier";

(e) "placing on the market" means supplying or making available to third parties.

Importation into Community customs territory shall be deemed to be placing on the market for the purposes of this Directive.

2. The following substances and preparations are "dangerous" within the meaning of this Directive: (a) explosive:

substances and preparations which may explode under the effect of flame or which are more sensitive to shocks or friction than dinitrobenzene;

(b) oxidizing:

substances and preparations which give rise to highly exothermic reaction when in contact with other substances, particularly flammable substances;

(c) extremely flammable:

liquid substances and preparations having a flash point lower than 0 ºC and a boiling point lower than or equal to 35 ºC; (1)OJ No L 194, 15.7.1975, p. 39. (2)OJ No L 84, 31.3.1978, p. 43. (3)OJ No L 147, 9.6.1975, p. 40.

(d) highly flammable: - substances and preparations which may become hot and finally catch fire in contact with air at ambient temperature without any application of energy, or

- solid substances and preparations which may readily catch fire after brief contact with a source of ignition and which continue to burn or to be consumed after removal of the source of ignition, or

- liquid substances and preparations having a flash point below 21 ºC, or

- gaseous substances and preparations which are flammable in air at normal pressure, or

- substances and preparations which, in contact with water or damp air, evolve highly flammable gases in dangerous quantities;

(e) flammable:

liquid substances and preparations having a flash point equal to or greater than 21 ºC and less than or equal to 55 ºC;

(f) very toxic:

substances and preparations which, if they are inhaled or ingested or if they penetrate the skin, may involve extremely serious, acute or chronic health risks and even death;

(g) toxic:

substances and preparations which, if they are inhaled or ingested or if they penetrate the skin, may involve serious, acute or chronic health risks and even death;

(h) harmful:

substances and preparations which, if they are inhaled or ingested or if they penetrate the skin, may involve limited health risks;

(i) corrosive:

substances and preparations which may, on contact with living tissues, destroy them;

(j) irritant:

non-corrosive substances and preparations which, through immediate, prolonged or repeated contact with the skin or mucous membrane, can cause inflammation;

(k) dangerous for the environment:

substances and preparations the use of which presents or may present immediate or delayed risks for the environment;

(l) carcinogenic:

substances or preparations which, if they are inhaled or ingested or if they penetrate the skin, may induce cancer in man or increase its incidence;

(m) teratogenic;

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