EU detergents · Reg (EC) 648/2004
What must your detergent label show?
The EU Detergents Regulation sets out what a detergent's packaging must display — content declarations, the ingredient website, dosage for consumer laundry detergents, and more. Pick your audience and type to get the required label elements.
Content updated June 2026Rules verified 14 Jun 2026 against EUR-Lex 648/2004
Required label elements
5
5 label elements are required for your detergent.
- Content declarationsDeclare the constituents present (phosphates, surfactants, etc.) in the ranges set out in Annex VII.
- Preservation agents namedName any preservatives, using the INCI name where available.
- Allergenic fragrances named (> 0.01%)Name allergenic fragrances present at concentrations exceeding 0.01% by weight.
- Website with the full ingredient listGive a website (Annex VII) where the full ingredient list can be obtained — unrestricted access, kept up to date.
- Responsible-party detailsName/trade name or trademark, full address and telephone of the party placing the detergent on the market.
What a detergent label must show in the EU
Under Regulation (EC) 648/2004 (Art. 11 + Annex VII), a detergent placed on the EU market for the general public must carry these label elements on its packaging:
- 1Content declarations
- 2Allergenic fragrances named (> 0.01%)
- 3Preservation agents named
- 4Website with the full ingredient list
- 5Responsible-party details
- 6Recommended dosages
Allergenic fragrances must be named on the label whenever present above 0.01% by weight. Consumer laundry detergents add recommended dosages (for soft, medium and hard water) and the number of standard washing-machine loads per pack. Where the detergent is also classified as hazardous, CLP hazard labelling (pictograms, signal word, H/P statements) applies on top of these elements.
Looking ahead: Regulation (EU) 2026/405 modernises this regime — digital labelling, refill/concentrate rules and stricter allergen disclosure — but it applies only from 23 September 2029. This tool reflects the rules in force today.
Sources: Regulation (EC) 648/2004 · EUR-Lex consolidated text · European Commission — Detergents
What this tool is — and isn't
This checker lists the detergent labelling elements for the audience and type you pick under Regulation (EC) 648/2004 (EUR-Lex + the European Commission) — the rules in force today. A successor, Regulation (EU) 2026/405 on detergents and surfactants (digital product passport + dual-layer labelling), was published on 2 March 2026 and entered into force on 22 March 2026, but it applies only from 23 September 2029, when 648/2004 is repealed; this tool reflects the rules in force today, not the 2026/405 changes. It is an estimate and orientation, not legal advice, and it does not draft your label, compute concentration ranges, or list the full Annex VII detail. Verify against the linked official sources.
How the determination works
1. Who it's for
The full consumer label provisions (content declarations, allergenic fragrances, website) apply to detergents sold to the general public. Industrial/institutional products have a lighter set.
2. The base elements
Consumer detergents declare their constituents in ranges, name preservatives and allergenic fragrances (> 0.01%), give an ingredient website, and show the responsible party's contact details.
3. Laundry adds dosage
Consumer laundry detergents must also give recommended dosages for different water hardness and the number of standard washing-machine loads per pack.
The content-declaration table — Annex VII A, band by band
Annex VII Section A works off two mechanics. A fixed set of constituent classes must be declared on the pack whenever the class is added above 0.2% by weight — not as an exact percentage, but in one of four bands: less than 5%; 5% or over but less than 15%; 15% or over but less than 30%; 30% and more. A second, shorter set goes on the label no matter how little is in the formula. This is the table the checker above resolves against your product type.
| Constituent | When it goes on the label |
|---|---|
| Surfactants — anionic, cationic, amphoteric, non-ionic | Band declaration when the class is added above 0.2% by weight, each surfactant class declared separately — “anionic surfactants 5–15%, non-ionic surfactants <5%” is the classic pattern. |
| Phosphates and phosphonates | Band declaration above 0.2%. Separate from the Regulation 259/2012 phosphorus caps covered under dosage below — declaring phosphates does not make an over-limit formula legal. |
| Bleaching agents — oxygen-based and chlorine-based | Band declaration above 0.2%, each type named separately. |
| EDTA, NTA and their salts | Band declaration above 0.2%. |
| Phenols and halogenated phenols; paradichlorobenzene | Band declaration above 0.2%. |
| Hydrocarbons — aromatic, aliphatic, halogenated | Band declaration above 0.2%. |
| Soap, zeolites, polycarboxylates | Band declaration above 0.2%. |
| Enzymes, disinfectants, optical brighteners, perfumes | Listed whenever added, irrespective of concentration — no band required, the class name itself is the declaration. |
| Preservatives | Named individually whenever added, irrespective of concentration, using INCI nomenclature where it exists. |
| Allergenic fragrances | Named individually by INCI name once they exceed 0.01% by weight — the allergen section below covers which substances count. |
One relaxation exists: for detergents intended for the industrial and institutional sector and never made available to the general public, the Section A requirements can instead be met through technical data sheets, safety data sheets “or in a similar appropriate manner”.
Official sources: Regulation (EC) 648/2004, Annex VII A (EUR-Lex consolidated) · Commission Regulation (EC) 907/2006 · A.I.S.E. Detergents Regulation guidelines
Fragrance allergens: the 0.01% rule and a list that just grew
The allergen callout is the detergent label element most likely to be silently out of date, because the list of substances it covers does not live in the Detergents Regulation at all.
The rule today
A fragrance allergen goes on the detergent label under its INCI name once it exceeds 0.01% by weight — 100 mg per kilogram of product. The threshold was inserted into Annex VII A by Commission Regulation (EC) No 907/2006; below it, the substance stays hidden inside the generic “perfumes” declaration.
Which substances count — a moving target
Annex VII points at the fragrance-allergen list of the EU cosmetics rules — originally Annex III to Directive 76/768/EEC, today Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 — and expressly includes substances subsequently added to that list. Commission Regulation (EU) 2023/1545 added 56 fragrance allergens to it, with cosmetics required to comply for products placed on the market from 31 July 2026 and a sell-through to 31 July 2028. A detergent fragrance that needed no callout when your artwork was designed may need one on the next print run — ask your fragrance house for an allergen declaration covering the full expanded list.
Where this lands under the new regulation
The successor Regulation (EU) 2026/405 keeps fragrance allergens and preservatives on the physical label even where other particulars migrate to a digital label (Articles 17–18), and lets the Commission update detergent allergen limits by delegated act as the cosmetics side adopts individual concentration limits.
Official sources: Regulation (EC) 907/2006 — allergen rule (EUR-Lex) · Regulation (EU) 2023/1545 — 56 new allergens · Regulation (EU) 2026/405 (EUR-Lex)
The dosage panel for consumer laundry detergents
Article 11(4) adds a second mandatory block for consumer laundry detergents (and consumer automatic dishwasher detergents), defined in Annex VII Section B. It is prescriptive enough to be checkable line by line:
| Element | Exact requirement |
|---|---|
| Dose per wash | Recommended quantities and/or dosage instructions in millilitres or grams for a standard washing-machine load — separately for soft, medium and hard water, and covering one- and two-cycle washing processes. |
| Washes per pack | The number of standard washing-machine loads the pack contents will wash: “normally soiled” fabrics for heavy-duty detergents, “lightly soiled” for light-duty, both at medium water hardness (2.5 millimoles CaCO3 per litre). |
| The standard load itself | Fixed by the regulation so packs are comparable across brands: 4.5 kg of dry fabric for heavy-duty detergents, 2.5 kg for light-duty detergents. |
| The measuring cup | If a cup or scoop is provided, its capacity must be stated in millilitres or grams and it must carry markings for the soft, medium and hard water dose. |
The standard dose is also the unit the phosphorus bans are measured in: since 30 June 2013 a consumer laundry detergent may not be placed on the EU market with 0.5 g or more of total phosphorus per standard dose, and since 1 January 2017 the same applies to consumer automatic dishwasher detergents at 0.3 g — both limits inserted by Regulation (EU) No 259/2012.
Language is part of the check too. Under Article 11(5), where a member state requires labelling in its national language(s), both the Annex VII information and the dosage panel must comply — a pack that clears review in one market can fail in the next purely on language. Multi-country sellers usually print multilingual panels.
Official sources: Regulation (EC) 648/2004, Art. 11 + Annex VII B (EUR-Lex consolidated) · Regulation (EU) 259/2012 — phosphorus limits
What changes under Regulation (EU) 2026/405 — and when
The revision is no longer a proposal: Regulation (EU) 2026/405 of 11 February 2026 on detergents and surfactants was published in the Official Journal on 2 March 2026 and repeals Regulation 648/2004. The catch for sellers is the long fuse — it applies from 23 September 2029, so everything above stays the rulebook until then.
| Change | What it means |
|---|---|
| Digital labels | Part of the mandatory information may move to a digital label reached from the pack, but safety-relevant particulars — dosage instructions and fragrance allergens included — stay printed on the physical label (Articles 17–18). |
| Digital Product Passport | Every detergent and surfactant placed on the market will need a DPP linked via a data carrier such as a QR code on the label or packaging, replacing today's ingredient datasheet, with the data kept available for 10 years (Article 21). |
| Scope grows | Detergents containing micro-organisms come into scope, refill stations get minimum requirements of their own, and an animal-testing prohibition comes in. |
| CLP overlap removed | Duplicated hazard-labelling requirements are stripped out: the CLP label keeps covering hazards, the detergent label covers composition and dosage. |
| Biodegradability | Extended criteria phase in on their own timeline, with milestones running to 2032 and 2034. |
| Sell-through | Detergents placed on the market under 648/2004 before 23 September 2029 may continue to be made available, and Articles 63–64 give manufacturers and importers roughly a further year to move old-rule stock through the chain. |
Official sources: Regulation (EU) 2026/405 (EUR-Lex) · UL Solutions — EU publishes new Detergent Regulation
Why detergent listings get taken down on Amazon
Label duties are not enforced only by market-surveillance authorities — marketplace compliance teams check them at listing level, and for detergents the takedowns cluster around a handful of documents. The triggers below reflect Amazon's published policies as of July 2026; other EU marketplaces run equivalent checks.
No EU responsible person on file
Since 13 December 2024 the General Product Safety Regulation (EU) 2023/988 requires every consumer product sold into the EU to have an economic operator established in the EU who answers for its compliance, with contact details shown to buyers. Amazon collects these details per product and deactivates EU listings that lack them — the most common takedown for non-EU detergent sellers.
The dangerous-goods (hazmat) review
Amazon screens ASINs for dangerous-goods status, and liquid detergents, descalers and machine cleaners routinely trigger it. Until a compliant Safety Data Sheet is on file the listing sits blocked — a missing or out-of-date SDS is a silent delisting.
Missing CLP data on the detail page
For mixtures classified as hazardous, Amazon asks for the CLP particulars — pictograms, signal word — through its listing workflow. The physical pack additionally carries the UFI code, backed by a poison-centre notification (CLP Annex VIII, mandatory for consumer mixtures since 1 January 2021).
Laundry capsules under the special CLP rules
Since 1 June 2015, Regulation (EU) No 1297/2014 requires water-soluble laundry detergent capsules to contain an aversive (bittering) agent and to be sold in opaque outer packaging that impedes opening by small children and carries “Keep away from children”. Capsule listings without conforming packaging are removed under the restricted-products policy.
Listing content that contradicts the label
The restricted-products rules also allow removal where the listing itself is non-compliant — product images missing required warnings, or claims that conflict with the SDS. Keep the image gallery consistent with the physical label you actually ship.
Official sources: Regulation (EU) 2023/988 — GPSR (EUR-Lex) · Regulation (EC) 1272/2008 — CLP, Annex VIII (EUR-Lex) · Regulation (EU) 1297/2014 — capsule rules · Amazon Seller Central — dangerous goods · Amazon restricted-products policy
Frequently asked questions
- What must a consumer detergent label show?
- Content declarations of its constituents in ranges, named preservatives and allergenic fragrances (> 0.01%), a website with the full ingredient list, and the responsible party's name, address and telephone.
- What extra do laundry detergents need?
- Consumer laundry detergents must also give recommended dosages for different washes and the number of standard washing-machine loads that the pack will wash.
- What is the ingredient website for?
- Annex VII requires a website on the packaging where the full ingredient list can be obtained — with unrestricted access and kept up to date.
- Do I name fragrances?
- You must name allergenic fragrances present at concentrations exceeding 0.01% by weight, alongside the other content declarations.
- Are professional detergents different?
- The full consumer label provisions target products sold to the general public. Industrial/institutional detergents have a lighter set — responsible-party details, the website, and the Annex VII ingredient data sheet made available on request.
- Is this legal advice?
- No. This tool lists the label elements your inputs trigger under Regulation (EC) 648/2004. It is orientation, not legal advice, and does not draft your label. Verify against the linked official sources.
- Do the percentage bands apply to every ingredient in the formula?
- No. The four bands (<5%, 5–15%, 15–30%, 30% and more) apply only to the constituent classes named in Annex VII A — surfactants, phosphates and phosphonates, bleaching agents, EDTA/NTA, phenols, hydrocarbons, soap, zeolites and polycarboxylates — and only when the class is added above 0.2% by weight. Enzymes, disinfectants, optical brighteners and perfumes are declared whenever present; preservatives and allergenic fragrances are named individually.
- Which fragrance allergens do I have to name on the pack?
- Those on the fragrance-allergen list of the EU cosmetics rules — a reference that expressly includes substances added to it later. Regulation (EU) 2023/1545 added 56 entries to that list in 2023, so a fragrance that needed no callout when your label was designed may need one on the next print run. Above 0.01% by weight, the INCI name goes on the pack.
- Is the detergent label the same thing as a CLP label?
- No — they stack. Regulation 648/2004 governs composition declarations, the ingredient website and dosage; CLP (Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008) adds hazard pictograms, signal words, the UFI and child-safety packaging where the mixture is classified as hazardous. A consumer detergent commonly needs both on the same pack, plus GPSR economic-operator details since December 2024.
- Can I move the ingredient list online instead of the pack?
- Partly — that is how the regime already works. The pack must carry the Annex VII A declarations plus a website address where the full ingredient list lives (INCI names, unrestricted access, kept up to date). What you cannot do yet is move the pack declarations themselves online: digital labelling only arrives with Regulation (EU) 2026/405 from 23 September 2029, and even then dosage and allergen information stays physical.
- What language does the label have to be in?
- Under Article 11(5), where the destination member state requires labelling in its national language(s), the Annex VII information and the laundry dosage panel must follow that requirement — and CLP hazard labelling must be in the official language(s) of every member state where the product is marketed, unless that state provides otherwise.