Compliance
Every mark that has to be on the tin, and why.
Compliance is not the fun part of the book. It is the part that keeps your business legal, your insurance valid, and your candles on the shelf when a trading standards officer walks past your stall.
In the US, candle fire safety is governed by ASTM F2417, net quantity follows FPLA formatting, and Prop 65 wording is added when triggered. The regional table on the next spread lays the main markets side by side, so you can read your own market off in a single glance.
The anatomy of a compliant label
Ten elements, no fewer. Product name, net weight, supplier name and address, batch or lot code, pictograms where required, signal word where required, hazard statements, precautionary statements, allergen declaration, and Burn within sight. Keep away from things that catch fire.. The annotated label on this page numbers each one against the mock-up.
The label generator at /tools/clp-label-generator builds the label from your recipe, your supplier IFRA sheets, your studio address, and ASTM F2417 fire safety, FPLA net contents and Prop 65 when triggered. The QR code on the printed guide deep-links to the generator with your region and units pre-filled. If a pictogram is missing on your first attempt, the generator will tell you which allergen tripped the threshold.
Allergen maths in one page
The allergen worksheet reads like this. Take the manufacturer's IFRA sheet, find the substances covered by the supplier SDS, IFRA certificate and any Prop 65 trigger list items, multiply each percentage by your fragrance load, and declare anything that clears the selected market's trigger. For candles, that threshold is usually generous. You will still often declare limonene, linalool, and citral, because citrus and lavender both punch through.
The two pictograms most makers meet
Hazard pictograms and warning icons depend on the market you selected. In CLP or GHS-style markets, the two most candle makers meet are the flame for flammable fragrance components and the exclamation mark for irritants or sensitisers. In US, Canadian and Australian exports, the generator maps those same hazards onto the local fire-safety and consumer-warning rules instead of reprinting a European label.
Print pictograms at a minimum of 10 mm across. Smaller than that and enforcement can reject the label on legibility alone. Black on white, red frame, no exceptions.
A label that fails an inspection is a candle you cannot sell. Get it right once and every unit for the next year is legal by default.
Compliance is not a tax. It is the moat that separates a maker who ships once from a maker who ships every week for five years.
Waxverse Studio
- Great Britain (GB CLP)
- Label elements are set by the classification of the finished mixture. The GB Poison Centre submission scheme via NPIS is currently voluntary and a UFI is not required on GB labels. Pictograms print at ≥ 10 mm per side where the classification triggers them. Reference: HSE GB CLP guidance.
- Northern Ireland
- Follows the EU regime, not GB. Treat NI labels as EU labels for UFI and PCN duties.
- European Union (CLP 1272/2008)
- Label elements follow the classification of the finished mixture. Where the mixture is classified for the health or physical hazards in Annex VIII, a PCN must be filed via the ECHA Poison Centres portal before placing on market and the resulting UFI printed on the label.
- United States (CPSC + ASTM)
- ASTM F2417 (Fire Safety for Candles, performance) and ASTM F2058 (Candle Fire Safety Labeling) are voluntary consensus standards. CPSC treats them as the working baseline; state sales-tax permit applies. No federal candle licence.
- Australia (ACCC)
- Consumer safety and product-information rules apply. Warning language in English on the base is the retailer expectation.
- Canada (CCCR 2001)
- Consumer Chemicals and Containers Regulations 2001. GHS-aligned pictograms where the classification triggers them, bilingual (English + French) hazard text.
- Product name and net weight
- Supplier name and address
- Batch or lot code traceable to the seven-field record
- GHS/CLP pictograms sized to the market's minimum, where the classification triggers them
- Signal word (Warning or Danger) where triggered by classification
- Hazard and precautionary statements derived from the finished-mixture classification
- Allergen declaration where individual substance limits are exceeded (per IFRA certificate + load calculation)
- Fire-safety warnings required by the selected market
- UFI printed on the label and PCN dossier filed (EU and Northern Ireland only, when the mixture is classified)
- Bilingual English + French text on the base (Canada only)
| Symptom | Likely cause | Fix | Prevent |
|---|---|---|---|
| The generator flags a missing pictogram after allergen maths. | A component (often limonene, linalool or citral) clears the market threshold at your load. | Confirm the percentages against the current IFRA certificate and reprint with the pictogram plus statement pair the generator recommends. | Re-run the allergen calculation in the CLP generator on every fragrance load change; refuse to release a batch without a current IFRA certificate on file. |
| EU (or Northern Ireland) shop refuses to stock the range despite a compliant label. | The finished mixture is classified but no PCN has been filed and no UFI is on the label. | Confirm the classification, submit to the ECHA Poison Centres portal, add the UFI to the label, and reissue. | File the PCN and mint the UFI as part of the SKU launch checklist, before the first EU or NI order ships. |
| Australian retailer returns a shipment citing consumer-safety non-conformance. | Warning language absent or not in English on the base of the container. | Reprint with the required warning phrasing on the base, in English, before re-shipping. | Add an AU proof step to the label sign-off; check base-warning wording before ordering a print run for that market. |
| US customer complaint escalates to a CPSC enquiry. | Missing ASTM F2058 Candle Fire Safety Labeling wording, or lead-wick claim not substantiated. | Add the ASTM F2058 warning wording, document the lead-free wick source, and file the incident record for the corrective-action file. | Keep the ASTM F2058 warning locked into the US label template, and store wick supplier lead-free certificates alongside the batch record. |