Guides / UFI in the EU

Do I need a UFI to sell candles in the EU?

Published 5 October 2026; rules last checked 25 September 2026. A labelling reference, not legal advice.

Yes, if the candle is classified for a health or physical hazard. Before such a candle is placed on the EU market, its composition is submitted to the body each member state where it is sold has appointed to receive it, and the submission's 16-character Unique Formula Identifier goes on the label as "UFI:" followed by the code. Skin sensitisation (H317), the classification scented wax most often carries, is a health hazard. A candle classified only for the aquatic environment needs neither the submission nor the UFI.

Which candles need one

Annex VIII, Part A, section 3.1 covers mixtures "classified as hazardous on the basis of their health or physical effects", and for mixtures sold to consumers it has applied since 1 January 2021 (section 1.1). For a candle, melt or diffuser that means H317, skin or eye irritation, flammability or any other health or physical classification on your supplier's data at the fragrance percentage you use. The aquatic classifications, H410 to H413, are environmental and do not count. A candle that carries only the EUH208 line is not classified at all, so it needs no UFI either.

The submission comes first

The information goes to the bodies appointed under Article 45(1) in the member state or states where the candle is placed on the market, before it is placed there (3.1). It is submitted electronically in an XML format that ECHA provides free of charge (3.1), in the official language or languages of each of those member states unless a member state has provided otherwise (3.3). Part B lists what it contains, from the product identifier and the classification to the composition.

Where the UFI goes

You create the UFI yourself with the electronic means ECHA provides, free of charge (5.1). Article 25(7) puts it in the supplemental information on the label, preceded by "UFI" in capital letters and a colon, clearly visible, legible and indelibly marked (5.2). It may instead be printed or affixed on the inner packaging next to the other label elements (5.3). Either way it stays with the pictograms, signal word and statements (Article 32(4)).

Several scents: separate codes or one group

Each scent is a different mixture, so by default each classified scent is a submission of its own with its own UFI. Section 4 of Part A allows one group submission for several mixtures that have the same classification for health and physical hazards (4.1), on one of two conditions: all of them contain the same components in the same concentration ranges (4.2), or they differ only in their perfumes and the differing perfumes total no more than 5 % of each mixture (4.3). Scents whose differing fragrance makes up more than 5 % of the candle are outside 4.3. Where a group submission with perfumes exists, changing those perfumes or adding new ones does not need a new UFI (5.1).

When a change needs a new UFI

The UFI identifies a formulation, not a batch. Part B, section 4.1 requires a submission update before a changed candle is sold when, among other things, a reported component is added, swapped or removed, or a component's concentration moves outside the range you submitted; the same composition changes need a new UFI (5.1). A new classification for health or physical hazards also needs an update. A higher fragrance load can change the classification itself; that is answered on its own page, Does changing the fragrance load change the CLP label?

Not the oil's code

The UFI printed on a fragrance oil belongs to the supplier's submission for that oil. Your candle, the wax and fragrance together, is a different mixture, and a classified candle needs a UFI created for it by the person placing it on the market.

Selling into the EU from outside it

Since 1 July 2026, Article 4(11) requires a supplier established in the EU, identified on the label, to fulfil the CLP requirements for a mixture placed on the EU market, the submission included. A maker in Great Britain or the US therefore needs that supplier before the UFI question even arises; the EU candle CLP guide covers the rest of the label. Great Britain itself has no UFI duty, as the UK answer explains.

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