IFRA Standards Library
IFRA
Standards Library
Chemicals regulation in the EU
REACH is the European Union’s comprehensive regulation on chemical safety. It applies to most substances manufactured or imported into the EU, setting out data requirements, safety assessments, and conditions for use. While not specific to fragrance, REACH has direct implications for the way fragrance ingredients are evaluated, managed and used — particularly with regard to volume thresholds, hazard classifications, and restrictions. IFRA contributes to the regulatory process to help ensure that REACH remains workable for the complex, low-volume substances used in scent.
Fragrance under REACH
Substance registration and data sharing
Companies placing fragrance ingredients on the EU market must register those substances with the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), providing data on hazards, uses, and exposure. IFRA members often work through consortia to share data and streamline compliance.
Risk management and restrictions
REACH enables the EU to impose conditions on the use of certain substances — or to restrict them entirely — based on scientific evaluations. Fragrance materials may be subject to such restrictions, which can affect formulation, labelling, or continued market access.
Ongoing dialogue and technical input
IFRA engages in the REACH process by contributing technical data, proposing pragmatic solutions, and representing the fragrance industry’s interests. Our goal is to support regulation that protects health and the environment while reflecting the specific realities of fragrance use.
IFRA’s REACH position (June 2026)
IFRA supports keeping REACH’s core legislative text unchanged, and instead focusing on secondary legislation, targeted updates to annexes, guidance and better regulatory coordination to make REACH work better in practice. This matters for a sector made up of more than 750 SMEs alongside global companies, supplying ingredients used in over 500,000 consumer products.
IFRA’s recommendations at a glance:
1. Enhance dialogue and alignment with CLP
At stake: Overlapping REACH and CLP evaluations, and limited dialogue with ECHA and Member States, create confusion and unpredictability.
Key ask: Strengthen coordination between REACH and CLP processes, and structure dialogue with ECHA and Member States.
2. Proportionate information requirements for low-tonnage substances
At stake: More than half of registered fragrance substances, and 80 % of natural complex substances such as essential oils, fall in the lowest tonnage bands.
Key ask: Keep information requirements proportionate to actual exposure, backed by SME and competitiveness impact assessments.
3. An exposure-based prioritization roadmap
At stake: Broad restrictions with temporary exemptions create uncertainty and risk removing safely used ingredients (e.g. ethanol) without regard to actual exposure.
Key ask: Assess use and exposure data up front, and set a clear prioritization roadmap before new restrictions.
4. No blanket Mixture Assessment Factor (MAF)
At stake: An IFRA-commissioned case study estimates a generic MAF (factor of 10) could cut sector turnover by 33 %, without reliably improving safety.
Key ask: Oppose a blanket MAF; assess combined exposure case by case, on a scientific basis.
5. Accelerate regulatory acceptance of reliable animal-free approaches
At stake: Animal testing remains heavily required under REACH and exposure-based alternatives are often limited; new CLP hazard classes risk increasing this demand further while New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) are still under development.
Key ask: Support the validation of reliable NAMs and Next Generation Risk Assessment (NGRA) approaches and allow more flexibility for exposure exemptions and read-across, while ensuring animal testing remains available wherever no validated alternative yet exists.
6. Streamlined implementation
At stake: Fragmented enforcement and complex, unstable IT systems (e.g. IUCLID) raise costs and create market barriers, especially for SMEs.
Key ask: Ensure consistent enforcement across Member States, allow three-year average volumes for registration, and simplify IT systems.
Position paper downloads
- IFRA Position on REACH &
- Economic analysis of CSS MAF
01 July 2026
News
IFRA welcomes European Commission’s commitment to not fully review REACH Regulation
The European Commission has confirmed it will not pursue a full legislative overhaul of REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals), a decision IFRA welcomes as providing much needed certainty for the fragrance industry.
06 January 2026
News
IFRA’s view on the Chemicals Omnibus in Euractiv
IFRA published an opinion in EU news outlet Euractiv urging a science-based, workable approach to the EU’s Chemicals Omnibus proposal to safeguard fragrance-sector innovation and consumer confidence.
03 July 2025
Press Release
Sector-wide statement ahead of the publication of the Commission’s Omnibus proposal on Chemicals
Brussels, 3 July 2025 – The European cosmetics, fragrance, and essential oils industries welcome the European Commission’s continued efforts to streamline and modernise cornerstone sectoral legislation, including the Classification, Labelling and Packaging (CLP) Regulation and the Cosmetic Products Regulation (CPR) whilst maintaining a clear focus on consumer safety.