G/TBT/N/EU/255
12 December 2014 
(14-7226)  Page: 1/2
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade  Original: English
 
  NOTIFICATION 
The following notification is being circulated in accordance with Article 10.6 
 
1. Notifying Member: EUROPEAN UNION 
If applicable, name of local government involved (Article 3.2 and 7.2):    
2. Agency responsible: European Commission 
Name and address (including telephon e and fax numbers, email and website 
addresses, if available) of agency or authority designated to handle comments 
regarding the notification shall be indicated if different from above : 
European Commission 
EU-TBT Enquiry Point 
Fax:  +(32) 2 299 80 43 E-mail:  eu-tbt@ec.europa.eu   
Website: http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/tbt/   
3. Notified under Article 2.9.2 [   ], 2.10.1 [ X ], 5.6.2 [   ], 5.7.1 [   ], other:  
4. Products covered (HS or CCCN where applic able, otherwise national tariff heading. 
ICS numbers may be provided in  addition, where applicable): Liquid consumer 
laundry detergents, as defined in Article 2( 1a) of Regulation (EC) No 648/2004 of the 
European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 104, 8.4.2004, p. 1) 
5. Title, number of pages and language(s) of the notified document: Commission 
Regulation (EU) No 1297/2014 of 5 December  2014 amending, for the purposes of its 
adaptation to technical and scientific progress, Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council on Classification, Labelling and Packaging of Substances and Mixtures (3 pages, in English) 
6. Description of content: This Commission Regulation introduces additional safety 
requirements applicable for hazardous liquid consumer laundry detergents placed on the 
market in soluble packaging.  
7. Objective and rationale, including the nature of urgent problems where applicable: 
In several countries (EU and USA), concern was expressed following an increasing number 
of incidents related to liquid laundry consumer  detergents in soluble packaging for single 
use. Thousands of cases were reported by po ison centres. Incidents frequently involve 
young children mouthing or ingesting the laundry detergent capsules. In other cases, eye 
and skin exposure occurred. Accident data sh ow higher incident rates and more severe 
symptoms compared to accidents with conventional laundry detergent products.  
Some fatalities we re also recorded. 
Urgent measures increasing the safety of these products were therefore warranted, by 
setting up additional requirements for their pa ckaging, requiring the addition of a bittering 
agent in the soluble packaging, and establishing minimum criteria for the strength of the 
capsules. This Regulation was adopted under urgency procedure to quickly reduce the 
number and severity of incidents. G/TBT/N/EU/255 
 
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  8. Relevant documents:   
USA data http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/c ontent/early/2014/11/05/peds.2014-
0057.abstract  
France data http://www.centres-
antipoison.net/CCTV/Rapport_CCTV_Dosettes_Hydrosolubles_vf.pdf  
9. Proposed date of adoption:   Regulation No 1297/2014 was adopted on 5 December 2014 
(OJ L 350/1 6 December 2014).  
Proposed date of entry into force:   The Regulation enters into force on 27 December 
2014.   
10. Final date for comments: See Point 7. The urgent measure is notified in accordance with 
Article 2.10.1. 
11. Texts available from: Nati onal enquiry point [ ] or address, telephone and fax 
numbers and email and website addresses, if available, of other body:  
European Commission 
EU-TBT Enquiry Point Fax:  + (32) 2 299 80 43 
E-mail:  eu-tbt@ec.europa.eu   
The text is available on the EU-TBT Website :  http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/tbt/   
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-con tent/EN/TXT/?uri=OJ:JOL_2014_350_R_0001