UFI – What is it?
Starting in January 2020, any products classified for health or physical hazards are going to have to display a Unique Formula Identifier (or UFI). As part of the new rules, a 16 digit code will have to be displayed on your product and product information and the corresponding UFI code will need to be provided to poison centres.
Example:
UFI: VDU1-414F-1003-1862
What is it for?
The idea of the UFI is to allow poison centres to be able to quickly identify a product that has been involved in an incident and advise on medical procedures to tackle the accident. By having unique codes which tell the operator all they need to know regarding the substances’ makeup, characteristics, origin etc, they can cut down on wasted time or even over treatment which can happen if the exact chemical make-up is unknown.
Where do I get a UFI from?
ECHA offer an online UFI generator which simply uses your company VAT number plus a formulation number to generate a unique number for each product. The VAT number ensures that your UFI number is unique to your company and every product that you have which has a different chemical composition must have its own UFI.
Useful links:
Further information and guidelines can be found at:
ECHA’s UFI generator can be found at: