REGULATION (EU) No 259/2012 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL  
of 14 March 2012  
amending Regulation (EC) No 648/2004 as regards the use of phosphates and other phosphorus 
compounds in consumer laundry detergents and consumer automatic dishwasher detergents  
(Text with EEA relevance)  
THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE 
EUROPEAN UNION,  
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European 
Union, and in particular Article 114 thereof,  
Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,  
After transmission of the draft legislative act to the national 
parliaments,  
Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and 
Social Committee (  1 ), 
Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure (  2 ), 
Whereas:  
(1) In its Report of 4 May 2007 to the Council and the 
European Parliament, the Commission evaluated, 
pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 648/2004 of the 
European Parliament and of the Council (  3 ), the use of 
phosphates in detergents. Following further analysis, it 
has been concluded that the use of phosphates in 
consumer laundry detergents and consumer automatic 
dishwasher detergents should be limited in order to 
reduce the contribution of phosphates from detergents 
to eutrophication risks and to reduce the cost of phos ­
phates removal in waste water treatment plants. Those 
cost savings outweigh the cost of reformulating 
consumer laundry detergents with alternatives to phos ­
phates.  
(2) Efficient alternatives to phosphate-based consumer 
laundry detergents require small amounts of other phos ­
phorus compounds, namely phosphonates which, if used 
in increasing quantities, might be of concern for the 
environment. While it is important to encourage the 
use of alternative substances with a more favourable 
environmental profile than phosphates and other phos ­
phorus compounds in the manufacture of consumer 
laundry detergents and consumer automatic dishwasher detergents, such substances should, under their normal 
conditions of use, present no risk, or a lower risk, to 
humans and/or the environment. The REACH (  4 ) system 
should therefore, where appropriate, be used to evaluate 
such substances.  
(3) The interaction between phosphates and other phos ­
phorus compounds requires a careful choice of the 
scope and level of the limitation on the use of phos ­
phates in consumer laundry detergents and consumer 
automatic dishwasher detergents. The limitation should 
apply not only to phosphates, but also to all phosphorus 
compounds in order to preclude a mere substitution of 
other phosphorus compounds for phosphates. The limit 
on phosphorus content should be low enough to effec ­
tively prevent the marketing of phosphate-based 
consumer laundry detergent formulations, while being 
high enough to allow the minimum quantity of phos ­
phonates required for alternative formulations.  
(4) It is currently not appropriate to extend limitations on 
the use of phosphates and other phosphorus compounds 
in consumer laundry detergents and consumer automatic 
dishwasher detergents to industrial and institutional 
detergents at the level of the Union because suitable 
technically and economically feasible alternatives to the 
use of phosphates in those detergents are not yet 
available. As concerns consumer automatic dishwasher 
detergents, alternatives are likely to be more widely 
available in the near future. It is therefore appropriate 
to provide a restriction on the use of phosphates in 
those detergents. Such a restriction should apply from 
a future date by which time alternatives to phosphates 
are expected to be widely available, in order to stimulate 
the developments of new products. It is also appropriate 
to specify a maximum permissible phosphorus content, 
based on evidence including existing national restrictions 
for phosphorus in consumer automatic dishwasher deter ­
gents. However, it is also necessary to provide that the 
Commission should, before that restriction becomes 
applicable throughout the Union, carry out a thorough 
assessment of the limit value based on the most recent 
available data and, if justified, present a legislative 
proposal. That assessment should cover the impact on 
the environment, industry and consumers of consumer 
automatic dishwasher detergents with phosphorus levels 
above and below the limit value set out in Annex VIaEN L 94/16 Official Journal of the European Union 30.3.2012  
( 1 ) OJ C 132, 3.5.2011, p. 71.  
( 2 ) Position of the European Parliament of 14 December 2011 (not yet 
published in the Official Journal) and decision of the Council of 
10 February 2012.  
( 3 ) OJ L 104, 8.4.2004, p. 1.  ( 4 ) Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and of 
the Council of 18 December 2006 concerning the Registration, 
Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH), 
establishing a European Chemicals Agency (OJ L 396, 30.12.2006, 
p. 1).and alternatives, taking into account matters including 
their cost, availability, cleaning efficiency and impact on 
waste water treatment.  
(5) One of the aims of this Regulation is to protect the 
environment by reducing eutrophication caused by phos ­
phorus in detergents used by consumers. It would 
therefore not be appropriate to force Member States 
that already have restrictions concerning phosphorus in 
consumer automatic dishwasher detergents to adapt 
those restrictions before the Union restriction becomes 
applicable. Furthermore, it is desirable that Member 
States be permitted to phase in the restrictions set out 
in this Regulation as early as possible.  
(6) A definition of ‘cleaning’ should be included in Regu ­
lation (EC) No 648/2004 instead of a reference to the 
relevant ISO standard to facilitate readability, and defi ­
nitions of ‘consumer laundry detergent’ and ‘consumer 
automatic dishwasher detergent’ should also be 
included. Furthermore, it is appropriate to clarify the 
definition of ‘placing on the market’ and to include a 
definition of ‘making available on the market’.  
(7) In order to provide accurate information within the 
shortest possible timescale, it is appropriate to 
modernise the way in which the Commission publishes 
the lists of competent authorities and approved labora ­
tories.  
(8) In order to adapt Regulation (EC) No 648/2004 to 
scientific and technical progress, to introduce provisions 
on solvent-based detergents and in order to introduce 
appropriate individual risk-based concentration limits 
for fragrance allergens, the power to adopt acts in 
accordance with Article 290 of the Treaty on the Func ­
tioning of the European Union should be delegated to 
the Commission in respect of amendments to the 
Annexes to that Regulation that are necessary to meet 
those objectives. It is of particular importance that the 
Commission carry out appropriate consultations during 
its preparatory work, including at expert level. The 
Commission, when preparing and drawing-up delegated 
acts, should ensure a simultaneous, timely and appro ­
priate transmission of relevant documents to the 
European Parliament and to the Council.  
(9) Member States should lay down rules on penalties 
applicable to infringements of Regulation (EC) No 
648/2004 and ensure that they are implemented. 
Those penalties should be effective, proportionate and 
dissuasive.  
(10) It is appropriate to provide for deferred application of the 
restrictions established in this Regulation so as to allow 
operators, in particular small and medium–sized enter ­
prises, to reformulate their phosphate–based consumer 
laundry detergents and consumer automatic dishwasher 
detergents using alternatives during their usual reformu ­
lation cycle in order to minimise the costs thereof.  (11) Since the objectives of this Regulation, namely to reduce 
the contribution of phosphates from consumer 
detergents to eutrophication risks, to reduce the costs 
of phosphates removal in waste water treatment plants 
and to ensure the smooth functioning of the internal 
market in consumer laundry detergents and consumer 
automatic dishwasher detergents, cannot be sufficiently 
achieved by Member States because national measures 
with different technical specifications cannot ensure a 
comprehensive improvement in the quality of water 
crossing national borders, and can therefore be better 
achieved at the level of the Union, the Union may 
adopt measures, in accordance with the principle of 
subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty on 
European Union. In accordance with the principle of 
proportionality, as set out in that Article, this Regulation 
does not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve 
those objectives.  
(12) Regulation (EC) No 648/2004 should therefore be 
amended accordingly,  
HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:  
Article 1  
Regulation (EC) No 648/2004 is hereby amended as follows:  
(1) in Article 1(2), the third and fourth indents are replaced by 
the following, and a fifth indent is added:  
‘— the additional labelling of detergents, including 
fragrance allergens,  
— the information that manufacturers must hold at the 
disposal of the Member States’ competent authorities 
and medical personnel,  
— limitations on the content of phosphates and other 
phosphorus compounds in consumer laundry 
detergents and consumer automatic dishwasher deter ­
gents.’,  
(2) Article 2 is amended as follows:  
(a) the following points are inserted:  
‘1a. “Consumer laundry detergent” means a detergent 
for laundry placed on the market for use by non- 
professionals, including in public laundrettes.EN 30.3.2012 Official Journal of the European Union L 94/171b. “Consumer automatic dishwasher detergent” 
means a detergent placed on the market for use 
in automatic dishwashers by non-professionals.’;  
(b) point 3 is replaced by the following:  
‘3. “Cleaning” means the process by which an unde ­
sirable deposit is dislodged from a substrate or 
from within a substrate and brought into a state 
of solution or dispersion.’;  
(c) point 9 is replaced by the following:  
‘9. “Placing on the market” means the first making 
available on the Union market. Import into the 
Union customs territory shall be deemed to be 
placing on the market.  
9a. “Making available on the market” means any 
supply for distribution, consumption or use on 
the Union market in the course of a commercial 
activity, whether in return for payment or free of 
charge.’;  
(3) the following Article is inserted:  
‘Article 4a  
Limitations on the content of phosphates and of other 
phosphorus compounds  
Detergents listed in Annex VIa that do not comply with 
the limitations on the content of phosphates and of other 
phosphorus compounds laid down in that Annex shall not 
be placed on the market from the dates set out therein.’;  
(4) in Article 8, paragraph 4 is replaced by the following:  
‘4. The Commission shall make publicly available the 
lists of competent authorities, mentioned in paragraph 1, 
and of approved laboratories, mentioned in paragraph 2.’;  
(5) in Article 11, paragraph 4 is replaced by the following:  
‘4. Additionally, the packaging of consumer laundry 
detergents and consumer automatic dishwasher detergents 
shall bear the information provided for in section B of 
Annex VII.’;  
(6) in Article 12, paragraph 3 is deleted;  
(7) Articles 13 and 14 are replaced by the following:  
‘Article 13  
Adaptation of Annexes  
1. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt 
delegated acts in accordance with Article 13a in order to 
introduce amendments necessary for adapting Annexes I 
to IV, VII and VIII to scientific and technical progress. The 
Commission shall, wherever possible, use European stan ­
dards.  2. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt 
delegated acts in accordance with Article 13a in order to 
introduce amendments to the Annexes of this Regulation 
regarding solvent-based detergents.  
3. Where individual risk-based concentration limits for 
the fragrance allergens are established by the Scientific 
Committee on Consumer Safety, the Commission shall 
adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 13a in 
order to adapt the limit of 0,01 % set out in section A 
of Annex VII accordingly.  
Article 13a  
Exercise of the delegation  
1. The power to adopt delegated acts is conferred on 
the Commission subject to the conditions laid down in 
this Article.  
2. The power to adopt delegated acts referred to in 
Article 13 shall be conferred on the Commission for a 
period of 5 years from 19 April 2012. By 19 July 
2016, the Commission shall draw up a report in respect 
of the delegation of power. The delegation of power shall 
be tacitly extended for further periods of 5 years, unless 
the European Parliament or the Council opposes such 
extension not later than 3 months before the end of 
each such period.  
3. The delegation of power referred to in Article 13 
may be revoked at any time by the European Parliament 
or by the Council. A decision of revocation shall put an 
end to the delegation of the power specified in that 
decision. It shall take effect the day following the 
publication of the decision in the  Official Journal of the 
European Union  or at a later date specified therein. It 
shall not affect the validity of any delegated acts already 
in force.  
4. As soon as it adopts a delegated act, the Commission 
shall notify it simultaneously to the European Parliament 
and to the Council.  
5. A delegated act adopted pursuant to Article 13 shall 
enter into force only if no objection has been expressed 
either by the European Parliament or the Council within a 
period of 2 months of notification of that act to the 
European Parliament and the Council or if, before the 
expiry of that period, the European Parliament and the 
Council have both informed the Commission that they 
will not object. That period shall be extended by 2 
months at the initiative of the European Parliament or 
the Council.  
Article 14  
Free movement clause  
1. Member States shall not prohibit, restrict or impede 
the making available on the market of detergents, and/or 
of surfactants for detergents, which comply with the 
requirements of this Regulation, on grounds that are 
dealt with in this Regulation.EN L 94/18 Official Journal of the European Union 30.3.20122. Member States may maintain or lay down national 
rules concerning restrictions on the content of phosphates 
and of other phosphorus compounds in detergents for 
which no restrictions on the content are set out in 
Annex VIa where justified, in particular, on grounds 
such as the protection of public health or the environment 
and where technically and economically feasible alter ­
natives are available.  
3. Member States may maintain national rules that were 
in force on 19 March 2012 concerning restrictions on the 
content of phosphates and of other phosphorus 
compounds in detergents for which restrictions set out 
in Annex VIa have not yet become applicable. Such 
existing national measures shall be reported to the 
Commission by 30 September 2012 and may remain in 
force until the date when the restrictions set out in Annex 
VIa apply.  
4. From 19 March 2012 until 31 December 2016 
Member States may adopt national rules that implement 
the restriction on the content of phosphates and of other 
phosphorus compounds laid down in the point 2 of 
Annex VIa, where justified, in particular, on grounds 
such as the protection of public health or the environment 
and where technically and economically feasible alter ­
natives are available. Member States shall notify such 
measures to the Commission in accordance with 
Directive 98/34/EC of the European Parliament and of 
the Council of 22 June 1998 laying down a procedure 
for the provision of information in the field of technical 
standards and regulations and of rules on Information 
Society services (*).  
5. The Commission shall make publicly available the 
list of national measures referred to in paragraphs 3 and 4.  
___________  
(*) OJ L 204, 21.7.1998, p. 37.’;  
(8) in Article 15, paragraph 1 is replaced by the following:  
‘1. Where a Member State has justifiable grounds for 
believing that a specific detergent, although complying 
with the requirements of this Regulation, constitutes a 
risk to the safety or health of humans or of animals or 
a risk to the environment, it may take all appropriate 
provisional measures, commensurate with the nature of 
the risk, in order to ensure that the detergent concerned 
no longer presents that risk, is withdrawn from the market 
or recalled within a reasonable period or its availability is 
otherwise restricted.  
The Member State shall immediately inform the other 
Member States and the Commission thereof, giving the 
reasons for its decision.’;  
(9) Article 16 is replaced by the following:  ‘Article 16  
Report  
1. By 31 December 2014, the Commission shall, taking 
into account information from Member States on the 
content of phosphorus in consumer automatic dishwasher 
detergents placed on the market in their territories and in 
the light of any existing or new scientific information 
available to it regarding substances employed in phos ­
phates-containing and alternative formulations, evaluate 
by way of a thorough assessment whether the restriction 
set out in point 2 of Annex VIa should be modified. That 
assessment shall include an analysis of the impact on the 
environment, industry and consumers of consumer 
automatic dishwasher detergents with phosphorus levels 
above and below the limit value set out in Annex VIa, 
taking into account matters including cost, availability, 
cleaning efficiency and the impact on waste water 
treatment. The Commission shall submit that thorough 
assessment to the European Parliament and to the Council.  
2. In addition, if the Commission, on the basis of the 
thorough assessment referred to in paragraph 1, considers 
that the restriction of phosphates and other phosphorus 
compounds used in consumer automatic dishwasher 
detergents requires revision, it shall, by 1 July 2015, 
present an appropriate legislative proposal. Any such 
proposal must be aimed at minimising the negative 
impact from all consumer automatic dishwasher 
detergent products on the wider environment, whilst 
considering any economic costs as identified in that 
thorough assessment. Unless the European Parliament 
and the Council, on the basis of such a proposal, decide 
otherwise by 31 December 2016, the limit value set out in 
point 2 of Annex VIa shall become the limitation for 
phosphorus content in consumer automatic dishwasher 
detergents from the date set out in that point.’;  
(10) Article 18 is replaced by the following:  
‘Article 18  
Penalties  
Member States shall lay down the rules on penalties 
applicable to infringements of this Regulation and shall 
take all measures necessary to ensure that they are imple ­
mented. This may also include appropriate measures 
allowing the competent authorities of the Member States 
to prevent the making available on the market of 
detergents or surfactants for detergents that fail to 
comply with this Regulation. The penalties provided for 
must be effective, proportionate and dissuasive. Member 
States shall notify those provisions and any subsequent 
amendment affecting those provisions to the Commission 
without delay.  
Those rules shall include measures allowing the competent 
authorities of Member States to detain consignments of 
detergents that fail to comply with this Regulation.’;  
(11) the text set out in the Annex to this Regulation is inserted 
as Annex VIa to Regulation (EC) No 648/2004;EN 30.3.2012 Official Journal of the European Union L 94/19(12) Annex VII shall be amended as follows:  
(a) in section A, the following text is deleted:  
‘If individual risk-based concentration limits for the 
fragrance allergens are subsequently established by 
the SCCNFP, the Commission shall propose the 
adoption of such limits to replace the limit of 
0,01 % mentioned above. Those measures, designed 
to amend non-essential elements of this Regulation, 
shall be adopted in accordance with the regulatory 
procedure with scrutiny referred to in Article 12(3).’,  
(b) section B is replaced by the following:  
‘B. Labelling of dosage information  
As prescribed in Article 11(4), the following provisions 
on labelling shall apply to the packaging of detergents 
sold to the general public.  
Consumer laundry detergents  
The packaging of detergents sold to the general public 
intended to be used as laundry detergents shall bear 
the following information:  
— the recommended quantities and/or dosage 
instructions expressed in millilitres or grams appro ­
priate to a standard washing machine load, for soft, 
medium and hard water hardness levels and 
making provision for one or two cycle washing 
processes,  
— for heavy-duty detergents, the number of standard 
washing machine loads of “normally soiled” fabrics, 
and, for detergents for delicate fabrics, the number 
of standard washing machine loads of “lightly 
soiled” fabrics, that can be washed with the 
contents of the package using water of medium 
hardness, corresponding to 2,5 millimoles CaCO  3 /l, — the capacity of any measuring cup, if provided, 
shall be indicated in millilitres or grams, and 
markings shall be provided to indicate the dose 
of detergent appropriate for a standard washing 
machine load for soft, medium and hard water 
hardness levels,  
The standard washing machine loads are 4,5 kg dry 
fabric for heavy-duty detergents and 2,5 kg dry fabric 
for light-duty detergents, in line with the definitions of 
Commission Decision 1999/476/EC of 10 June 1999 
establishing the Ecological Criteria for the award of the 
Community Eco-label to Laundry Detergents (*). A 
detergent shall be considered to be a heavy-duty 
detergent unless the claims of the manufacturer 
predominantly promotes fabric care, i.e. low 
temperature wash, delicate fibres and colours.  
Consumer automatic dishwasher detergents  
The packaging of detergents sold to the general public 
intended to be used as automatic dishwasher 
detergents shall bear the following information:  
— the standard dosage expressed in grams or ml or 
number of tablets for the main washing cycle for 
normally soiled tableware in a fully loaded 12 
place settings dishwasher, making provisions, 
where relevant, for soft, medium, and hard water 
hardness,  
___________  
(*) OJ L 187, 20.7.1999, p. 52. Decision as amended 
by Decision 2011/264/EU (OJ L 111, 30.4.2011, 
p. 34).’.  
Article 2  
This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day 
following that of its publication in the  Official Journal of the 
European Union . 
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.  
Done at Strasbourg, 14 March 2012.  
For the European Parliament 
The President  
M. SCHULZ  For the Council 
The President  
N. WAMMENEN L 94/20 Official Journal of the European Union 30.3.2012ANNEX  
‘ANNEX VIa  
LIMITATIONS ON THE CONTENT OF PHOSPHATES AND OF OTHER PHOSPHORUS COMPOUNDS  
Detergent  Limitations  Date as of which the 
limitation applies  
1. Consumer laundry detergents  Shall not be placed on the market if the total content of 
phosphorus is equal to or greater than 0,5 grams in the 
recommended quantity of the detergent to be used in the 
main cycle of the washing process for a standard washing 
machine load as defined in section B of Annex VII for 
water of hard water hardness 
— for “normally soiled” fabrics in the case of heavy-duty 
detergents, 
— for “lightly soiled” fabrics in the case of detergents for 
delicate fabrics,  30 June 2013  
2. Consumer automatic dishwasher 
detergents  Shall not be placed on the market if the total content of 
phosphorus is equal to or greater than 0,3 grams in the 
standard dosage as defined in section B of Annex VII  1 January 2017’EN 30.3.2012 Official Journal of the European Union L 94/21