If you have ever looked closely at a dishwasher tablet or a bottle of glue, you have seen a 16-character code starting with โUFI:โ on the label. Many brand owners then ask whether a UFI code is also required on cosmetics. Finished cosmetic products do not need a UFI code or a poison centre notification, because they are excluded from the EU CLP Regulation; poison centres receive cosmetic data through the CPNP instead. The rule can still catch a cosmetic brand, though, as soon as it sells hazardous products that are not cosmetics. This guide explains where the line runs.
Contents
- The short answer
- What is a UFI code?
- What is a poison centre notification?
- Why finished cosmetics are exempt
- How poison centres get cosmetic information instead
- Where a cosmetic brand still meets the UFI rule
- Raw materials: the UFI on your supplierโs safety data sheet
- How to get a UFI if your product needs one
- Common mistakes
- Where the SDS and the CPSR fit
- Frequently asked questions
- Key takeaways
The short answer
A UFI (Unique Formula Identifier) and a poison centre notification (PCN) are obligations under Article 45 and Annex VIII of the CLP Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008. CLP does not apply to cosmetic products in their finished state intended for the final user. Your creams, shampoos, lipsticks and perfumes are notified in the Cosmetic Products Notification Portal (CPNP) under the Cosmetics Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009, and no UFI goes on their label. If you also sell hazardous mixtures that are not cosmetics, such as room sprays, reed diffuser liquids or biocidal hand gels, those products may need a UFI and a notification.
What is a UFI code?
A UFI is a 16-character alphanumeric code that links a product on the market to the composition data its supplier submitted for poison centres. It is generated with ECHAโs free UFI Generator from the companyโs VAT number and a formulation number the company chooses. On the label it is printed with the prefix โUFI:โ, usually close to the other hazard information.
When someone calls a poison centre because a child swallowed a product, the operator asks for the UFI. With it, the operator can find the exact mixture, its hazardous components and their concentrations within seconds, instead of guessing from the brand name.
Read also How Much Does a CPSR Cost in 2026? Price Factors Explained
What is a poison centre notification?
Annex VIII of CLP, added by Regulation (EU) 2017/542, harmonised the information that companies must give to the bodies each EU country appoints for emergency health response. It applies to importers and downstream users, including formulators and re-branders, who place on the market mixtures classified for health or physical hazards. The notification contains the product identifiers, the UFI, the classification and labelling, toxicological information, the composition and a product category from the European product categorisation system (EuPCS).
The obligations were phased in by use: mixtures for consumer and professional use from 1 January 2021, and mixtures for industrial use from 1 January 2024. Mixtures already notified under older national systems had a transition period until 1 January 2025. Today every hazardous mixture in scope is expected to be notified in the harmonised format, in most countries through ECHAโs submission portal.
Why finished cosmetics are exempt
Article 1(5) of CLP states that the regulation does not apply to certain products in the finished state, intended for the final user, and cosmetic products are one of them, alongside medicines, medical devices and food. Because Annex VIII is part of CLP, the UFI and notification duties fall away for finished cosmetics as well. The same logic explains why a finished cosmetic needs no CLP hazard label and no REACH safety data sheet: cosmetics have their own regime, built around the safety assessment, the Product Information File and the CPNP.
How poison centres get cosmetic information instead
Before a cosmetic is placed on the EU market, the responsible person notifies it in the CPNP (Article 13 of the Cosmetics Regulation). Part of that notification is the frame formulation, which describes the product type and the ranges of its main ingredient categories. The European Commission makes this information available to poison centres and similar bodies, so they can give medical advice after an accidental exposure without a UFI. That is why there is no need to notify a cosmetic twice.
Read also What Is a CPSR? Cosmetic Product Safety Report Explained
Where a cosmetic brand still meets the UFI rule
Many beauty and wellness brands sell more than cosmetics. What counts is the productโs intended use and presentation, not the shelf it sits on. Products that often fall under CLP instead of the Cosmetics Regulation include:
- Home fragrance: reed diffuser liquids, room and linen sprays and wax melts. Fragrance allergens and solvents often lead to a classification, for example as a skin sensitiser or a flammable liquid.
- Hand sanitisers with a biocidal claim: they are biocidal products, not cosmetics, and alcohol-based gels are usually classified as flammable.
- Essential oil blends sold for diffusers: if they are not presented for application to the body, they are chemical mixtures, and most essential oils carry hazard classifications.
- Cleaning or disinfecting products for salons or treatment rooms that you sell under your brand.
If such a mixture is classified for a health or physical hazard, it needs a CLP label, a safety data sheet for business customers, a UFI on the label and a poison centre notification for every EU country where it is sold. Mixtures classified only for environmental hazards are outside the notification obligation.
Raw materials: the UFI on your supplierโs safety data sheet
You will often see UFIs on the paperwork for your raw materials. Fragrance compounds, preservative blends and some active concentrates are hazardous mixtures, so their suppliers notify them and may list the UFI in section 1.1 of the safety data sheet, a field added to the SDS format by Regulation (EU) 2020/878. That UFI belongs to the supplierโs mixture. When you use the fragrance in a lotion, the finished lotion is a cosmetic and does not inherit the UFI, so do not copy it onto your label.
Do keep these SDSs. Your safety assessor uses the composition, hazard and toxicological information they contain when writing the CPSR, and they belong in your Product Information File.
How to get a UFI if your product needs one
- Confirm the classification. Classify the mixture under CLP; section 2 of its safety data sheet shows the result.
- Generate the UFI. Use ECHAโs UFI Generator with your VAT number and a formulation number. Products with an identical composition can share one UFI.
- Prepare the notification. Collect identifiers, classification, label elements, toxicology and the full composition, and choose the EuPCS category.
- Submit it. Use the ECHA submission portal, or the national system where a country still uses one, and select every market where you sell.
- Print the UFI. Add it to the label with the โUFI:โ prefix, and update the notification whenever the composition or label changes.
Read also SDS vs CPSR: Which One Do You Need?
Common mistakes
- Printing a UFI on a cosmetic โto be safeโ. It is not required, and a code without a matching notification can confuse poison centres.
- Treating a room spray as a cosmetic. A product sprayed into the air is not applied to the body; it is a CLP mixture.
- Forgetting changes. If the composition of a notified mixture changes beyond the tolerances in Annex VIII, the notification must be updated and a new UFI is normally needed.
Where the SDS and the CPSR fit
Think of two parallel routes. Cosmetics follow the Cosmetics Regulation: a CPSR signed by a qualified safety assessor, supporting data such as stability and microbiological results, the PIF and the CPNP notification. Hazardous chemical products follow CLP and REACH: classification, label, UFI, poison centre notification and a 16-section safety data sheet. A brand that sells both needs both sets of paperwork, and knowing which product belongs where saves time and avoids mistakes on the label.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a UFI to sell my cosmetics in several EU countries?
No. One CPNP notification covers the whole EU market for a cosmetic product, and no country requires a UFI on it.
Can I add a UFI to my cosmetic voluntarily?
There is no benefit. A cosmetic is not notified through the PCN system, so the code would not lead a poison centre to your data.
Does my perfume oil need a UFI?
If it is sold as a cosmetic for application to the skin, no. If the same oil is sold for a diffuser or burner, it is a chemical mixture and needs a UFI when it is classified for health or physical hazards.
Key takeaways
- Finished cosmetics are outside CLP, so they need no UFI and no poison centre notification.
- Poison centres receive cosmetic data through the CPNP frame formulation.
- Home fragrance, biocidal hand gels and diffuser oils are often hazardous mixtures that do need a UFI.
- A UFI on a supplierโs SDS belongs to that raw material, not to your finished cosmetic.