Bosnia and Herzegovina: Are there specific requirements for advertising chemicals in online stores?

If you sell chemicals, you know how crucial it is to find the right way to reach potential customers.

The digital age offers great opportunities to showcase products in detail on various online platforms, most commonly through your website.

However, it's important to understand the regulatory requirements for selling or offering chemicals to customers remotely.

Even in online sales, the customer must be aware of the hazards posed by the chemical before adding the product to their cart.

To adequately inform the customer, your website must include, alongside basic product information essential for sales (name, purpose, package size, price, etc.), hazard information, such as:

• GHS (CLP) pictograms,
• warning words,
• H statements (hazard statements),
• EUH statements (additional hazard information).

Some companies display the entire product label, which is also appropriate.

The same labeling rules apply here as in traditional sales: the label must be in one of the official languages and in accordance with subsection 2.2 of the safety data sheet. I've written about this before.

The requirement that every advertisement for a hazardous chemical must indicate its hazard is mandated by the Chemicals Act, both in the Republic of Srpska and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The regulation on classification, labeling, and packaging of chemicals in the Republic of Srpska also stipulates that advertisements for a mixture classified as hazardous, which allows the customer to conclude a distance selling contract without prior access to label information, must indicate the type or types of hazards listed on the label. The same applies to a mixture not classified as hazardous but containing a substance classified as hazardous.

In the upcoming period, the adoption of the same requirements is expected in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Including hazard information from the label on the website helps inform customers, raises awareness, and enables informed decision-making when choosing products. This not only ensures the protection of customers and consumers in general but also fulfills a legal obligation.

Next week, I'll write about what to watch out for when selling biocides online.

If you want to improve your business and automate the process of providing necessary information in your online store, check out this short video to see what Chemius – our system for creating and maintaining chemical documentation – offers.

If you're short on time to read chemical regulations, or have doubts when presenting your products on your website, it might be time for us to help you.

Contact me at nina.pajovic@bens-consulting.eu.