Struggling with the complexity of global labeling management in the chemical industry? Kallik's label and artwork management experts are here to help you conquer the challenges that often come with chemical product labeling by addressing regulations and the most common obstacles.
Trust, transparency and, above all, safety, are of paramount importance to the global chemicals industry. Yet, increasingly-stringent regulations about product/substance-based declarations, hazard warnings, and use of mandatory safety statements and symbols, is taking its toll on international brands. There are now so many regulated elements that must be carried on
product packaging and labeling that the requirements are impinging on companies’ freedom to distribute their goods globally.
The frequency with which new international, regional or country-specific requirements are introduced, and the sheer volume of obligatory text and graphics that must now be featured on individual labeling, is causing serious practical challenges for manufacturers and brand owners.
New Rules Compound Global Labeling Complexity
Regulatory change has accelerated again, so let's break down the latest updates. Beyond the steady flow of ATPs to CLP and GHS editorial updates, several substantive rule changes now affect how chemicals are classified, labelled, and notified across key markets:
EU: new CLP hazard classes (2023/707) now live with phased obligations. Suppliers must classify and label for endocrine disruptors (human/environment), PBT/vPvB and PMT/vPvM using new EU-specific hazard statements (e.g., EUH380/381/430/431/440/441/450/451). Transition periods run through 2025–2028 depending on substance vs. mixture and whether they’re new or already on the market — but firms may (and increasingly should) adopt them earlier to reduce rework.
US (OSHA): Hazard Communication Standard (HCS) 2024 alignment. OSHA finalized its HCS update (effective July 19, 2024) to primarily align with UN GHS Rev. 7 (with select Rev. 8 elements). Changes touch classification criteria, SDS and label elements (e.g., aerosols, desensitized explosives, flammable gases, and combustible dust clarification), with staged compliance dates through 2026–2028 for manufacturers, importers, and distributors. Expect SDS/label revisions and training updates across US supply chains.
UN GHS Rev. 10 (2023): While adoption is jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction, Rev.10 introduces notable refinements, including non-animal test methods guidance for several health hazards, precautionary statement rationalisation, and updated guidance for metals/metal compounds and desensitized explosives — which regulators are now selectively incorporating. Multi-market suppliers should watch for divergence (EU vs. US vs. GB, etc.).
EU product-specific developments are moving labelling online. The detergent rules recast introduces digital labelling and product passports, signalling a broader EU direction toward hybrid labels (on-pack + QR/app) and dynamic information management. Even before final texts are fully in force, brands should design content models that support digital/off-pack disclosure.
What this means for label operations
- More variants to manage: New EU hazard classes add EU-only statements alongside global GHS text, increasing SKUs and artwork versions for the same formulation by region.
- Re-classification waves: OSHA HCS 2024 and EU CLP updates trigger SDS and label republishing, cascading into training, system and artwork changes.
- Hybrid/digital readiness: Emerging EU digital labelling will shift some content off-pack; workflows must link printed labels to authoritative, version-controlled online content.
- Long transition tails: Staggered compliance dates (EU 2025–2028; US 2026–2028) demand road-mapped changes to avoid multiple reprints for the same SKU.
The key to staying 100% compliant when it comes to new regulations and updates, is keeping well informed of all the latest regulatory updates, so be sure to follow reputable sources closely to ensure you keep up to date with all the latest. The second most important thing, is to ensure your labeling and artwork process allows for quick, easy and accurate changes to be made to your artwork at scale. In other words... if you're still using spreadsheets and emails to manage your packaging design, it's time to have a serious think. Instead, look to cloud-based, end-to-end platforms with automated workflows and smart tools to mass locate and update terms and symbols with just a couple of mouse clicks. This will not only save time and money, but with minimal human input, you can achieve far higher accuracy rates.
Reducing risk as requirements rise
When changes to labeling are required, or if errors or omissions to printed content are identified, companies risk having to recall products, or re-label many thousands of items, in the process disposing of all labels and instructional materials that have already been printed. As well as being very costly(potentially running into tens of thousands of dollars each time current labeling stock is rendered obsolete), this conflicts with organizations’ brand values around sustainability and social responsibility.
There is no immediate end to these challenges, either. The EU’s unique formula identifier (UFI) and Poison Centre Notification (PCN) regime under CLP Annex VIII is now fully in effect across uses. Since 1 January 2024, new notifications for industrial-use mixtures must follow the harmonised PCN format and display a UFI on the label (joining consumer & professional uses already covered). A final transitional deadline of 1 January 2025 captures remaining mixtures previously notified under national systems — after this, all notified mixtures placed on the EU market must comply with the harmonised format and UFI labelling. Practically, that means any reformulation, supplier change or packaging change can trigger PCN updates and label rework at short notice.
- Artwork: Reserve space for the UFI and plan for region-specific EUH statements (new CLP classes) to avoid layout conflicts on small containers.
- Data & change control: Tie PCN data, SDS, and artwork components so formulation updates automatically flag UFI/label impacts.
- Supply chain: For US-bound product, stage HCS 2024 label/SDS updates to meet downstream dates while keeping EU artworks aligned — and document where wording must diverge.
Streamlining requirements: enterprise labeling management
Whether a manufacturer’s chemical products are consumer-facing or designed for industrial use, regaining control over spiraling complexity requires that labeling can be tracked and managed on a global, enterprise-wide scale, and assembled in a structured way that makes lighter work of change and variant management.
Streamlining requirements and boosting control starts with a clear line of sight across everything that is going out to the market, anywhere in the world. This means creating a single source of labeling truth of approved, current label components. If anything changes – to the brand, to the product or its ingredients, or to regulatory requirements – it can be managed in a controlled and robust way from a single, central vantage point.
One of the biggest benefits of imposing centralized structure and control is that this creates certainty - that the right information is going out on every product, every time, in every market. In this way, the manufacturer is able to maintain safety, compliance and market confidence, and reduce the risk of product recalls, fines for mislabeling, and the high cost of labeling reprinting and reissuing.
Standardized templates & automated label construction
A centralized labeling management capability can prevent teams starting from scratch when one small aspect of a label, such as a logo or listed substance, needs to be amended or replaced, enabling a much more efficient change process. The ability to create standardized labeling templates, and treat each labeling item as a composite of pre-approved text or artwork components, eliminates unnecessary process duplication, leaving skilled professionals free to focus more of their time on the elements that do need to change.
Enterprise labeling management can also help transform the processes involved, for instance in discovering label inter-dependencies if requirements or other conditions change, as all global label activity is mapped and tracked.
The central platform can also be used as a reliable look-up for latest country-specific requirements and sensitivities, and to calculate quickly the ramifications of a single change request. Sensitivity parameters and smart rules can be set to ensure that required logos and symbols are included, and that important information is displayed in legible fonts.
Invaluable tools and label compilation shortcuts, such as ‘phrase managers’ for different languages, meanwhile, can reduce the translation burden and risk, by eliminating repetition of routine tasks such as the construction of common safety advice/hazard warnings for each target language.
Joining the dots: additional integration options
When exploring the options among enterprise labeling management platforms, it is also worth considering whether the proposed solution can connect readily with other systems such as product information management systems that feed industry- or consumer-facing web site content. Joining up these information feeds will help to ensure that details of chemical ingredients and potential irritants/hazards stay in sync, and reduce the need for and risk associated with re-inputting data manually between platforms.
Where third-party design agencies are involved, it is important that these teams too are accessing and incorporating the latest, approved regulated label elements, which in turn should align with what appears on the current product or safety data sheet/in the corporate Regulatory database.
Risks are reduced, trust is assured, resources are optimized
With coordinated control and end-to-end visibility of all labeling activity globally, chemicals process manufacturers and brand owners will be better able to spot any labeling issues ahead of time so that products do not go out to market with errors or omissions in their labeling. As well as substantially reducing the safety risk, cost and reputational damage associated with product recalls, trusted labeling will help maintain public confidence in the organization and the quality and integrity of its products.
Enter Kallik's cloud-based, end-to-end, singular platform, Veraciti™. Our enterprise labeling software has been built with highly regulated industries in mind, making it easier than ever to stay compliant. Don't just take our word for it, explore our case studies here to see for yourself how we provide 100% accuracy for some of the world's biggest manufacturers. Medical device, pharmaceutical, chemical and cosmetics companies use Kallik to deliver trust in their labeling, integrity in their process and confidence in their brand. Is it time for your business to make a change?
Want to Know More About How Kallik Can Help Your Business?
Interested in learning how Kallik helps organizations achieve complete regulatory compliance with zero errors and total consistency? Contact us here or check out our case studies to see real-world examples of how we've helped some of the biggest global manufacturers.