Provenance

Reference data from EU CLP Annex VI and published regulations — verify against your supplier's SDS before use.

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Prevention · precautionary statement

P201 — Obtain special instructions before use.

Prevention statements describe how to keep the harm from happening at all. 1,258 substances with a harmonised EU classification carry this code.

EU CLP: currentUS OSHA HazCom: currentUS HazCom 2012: currentUN GHS: withdrawn

01 · Wording

What P201 says

Official

Obtain special instructions before use.

Category

Prevention · GHS revision 9

Does your label need P201? That depends on the hazard classes of your product, on whether it goes to the public or to professionals, and on what else is already on the label — Annex IV column 5 lets one statement remove another. Work it out from a classification →

02 · Languages

P201 in the 24 official EU languages

A label put on the market in an EU country must carry the wording of that country's own language version of CLP — not a translation of the English one. These 24 lines are quoted from the consolidated regulation, Annex IV, and are the text to print.

LanguageOfficial wording of P201
BG български Bulgarian Преди употреба се снабдете със специални инструкции.
ES español Spanish Solicitar instrucciones especiales antes del uso.
CS čeština Czech Před použitím si obstarejte speciální instrukce.
DA dansk Danish Indhent særlige anvisninger før brug.
DE Deutsch German Vor Gebrauch besondere Anweisungen einholen.
ET eesti Estonian Enne kasutamist tutvuda erijuhistega.
EL ελληνικά Greek Εφοδιαστείτε με τις ειδικές οδηγίες πριν από τη χρήση.
EN English English Obtain special instructions before use.
FR français French Se procurer les instructions spéciales avant utilisation.
GA Gaeilge Irish Faigh treoracha speisialta roimh úsáid.
HR hrvatski Croatian Prije uporabe pribaviti posebne upute.
IT italiano Italian Procurarsi istruzioni specifiche prima dell’uso.
LV latviešu Latvian Pirms lietošanas saņemt speciālu instruktāžu.
LT lietuvių Lithuanian Prieš naudojimą gauti specialias instrukcijas.
HU magyar Hungarian Használat előtt ismerje meg az anyagra vonatkozó különleges utasításokat.
MT Malti Maltese Ikseb struzzjonijiet speċjali qabel l-użu.
NL Nederlands Dutch Alvorens te gebruiken de speciale aanwijzingen raadplegen.
PL polski Polish Przed użyciem zapoznać się ze specjalnymi środkami ostrożności.
PT português Portuguese Pedir instruções específicas antes da utilização.
RO română Romanian Procurați instrucțiuni speciale înainte de utilizare.
SK slovenčina Slovak Pred použitím sa oboznámte s osobitnými pokynmi.
SL slovenščina Slovenian Pred uporabo pridobiti posebna navodila.
FI suomi Finnish Lue erityisohjeet ennen käyttöä.
SV svenska Swedish Inhämta särskilda instruktioner före användning.

Source: CELEX:02008R1272-20260501, Annex IV. © European Union, https://eur-lex.europa.eu — only the electronic Official Journal of the European Union is authentic. Irish is one of the 24 official languages and its H and P texts are printed inside the multilingual Annex tables, but no consolidated CLP has ever been published in Irish — which is why an Irish-primary label cannot be built here.

Where P201 is current

GHS is a United Nations model text, revised every two years, and each jurisdiction adopts a revision on its own timetable. A code can be legally current in one system and deleted in another — that is normal, not an error.

JurisdictionBasisStatus of P201
EU CLP Regulation (EC) 1272/2008 CLP Annex IV, Part 2 (consolidated) Current
US OSHA HazCom 29 CFR 1910.1200 Appendix C UN GHS Rev.7 (final rule of 20 May 2024) Current
US HazCom 2012 legacy · GHS Rev.3 UN GHS Rev.3, Annex 3 Current
UN GHS Rev.11 (2025) UN GHS Rev.11, Annex 3 withdrawn Deleted without a direct replacement.

Currently in force under: EU CLP, US OSHA HazCom, US HazCom 2012. Sources: EU CLP · US OSHA HazCom · US HazCom 2012 · UN GHS

Substances carrying P201

Every entry whose harmonised CLP Annex VI classification includes this precautionary statement. Substances with a reference page here open on this site; the rest open on ghssymbols.com. Of these, 33 are group entries such as “beryllium compounds” or “salts of hydrazine” — Annex VI gives them no CAS number, so they are listed by Index No and have no page of their own.

1258 of 1258 shown

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All precautionary statements

The full list of P-codes with the jurisdiction switch lives on the precautionary statements hub. For the hazard side, see hazard statements (H-codes).

Wording quoted from the regulation named above. Substance counts come from harmonised classifications in CLP Annex VI — the statements on a real product also depend on the supplier's own classification. Always check the supplier safety data sheet.

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