CAS 7664-38-2 · REACH · European Union

Phosphoric acid under REACH

H3PO4 · 磷酸

Status: Registered. Phosphoric acid is fully registered under REACH at the highest tonnage band (>1,000,000 tonnes/year). **Distinguishing pattern: wet-process (sulfuric acid plus phosphate rock; dominant globally at ~95 percent of capacity) plus thermal-process (~5 percent legacy) production route + fertiliser intermediates (DAP / MAP / TSP) downstream chain (~80 percent of demand globally; verify against IFA or ICIS before quoting) plus food-grade phosphates (E338 acidulant) chain (~5 to 10 percent) plus industrial cleaning plus metal treatment plus animal feed phosphates + Skin Corr. 1B plus Met. Corr. 1 hazard profile.** Reg (EC) 1272/2008 harmonised: Skin Corr. 1B (H314) plus Met. Corr. 1 (H290). NOT SVHC. NOT Annex XIV. NO active EU AD case on Chinese-origin phosphoric acid currently (verify against EUR-Lex https://eur-lex.europa.eu/ before invoicing). **Note: EU has historic AD measures on phosphate-derivative products (e.g. trisodium phosphate, sodium tripolyphosphate); verify against EUR-Lex before relying on phosphate-chain duty status.**

Phosphoric acid is fully REACH-registered with **moderate hazard profile** (Skin Corr. 1B plus Met. Corr. 1). NOT SVHC, NOT Annex XIV. NO active EU AD on phosphoric acid itself, but **EU has historic AD measures on phosphate-derivative products** (verify before relying on phosphate-chain duty status). **Fertiliser intermediates DAP / MAP / TSP dominate** (~80 percent of demand) plus food-grade phosphates plus industrial cleaning plus metal treatment. Major Chinese producers: Yunnan Yuntianhua, Hubei Xingfa, Hubei Yihua, Wengfu Group, Guizhou Phosphate. Production: wet-process via sulfuric acid plus phosphate rock (~95 percent of global capacity).

Listing and threshold

Substance Phosphoric acid (CAS 7664-38-2), H3PO4
Regime EU Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006: Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals
Jurisdiction European Union (EU-27 plus EEA: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway)
Status Registered
Tonnage threshold Registration required for any importer or manufacturer placing >1 t/year on the EU market

Classifications under this regime

  • Harmonised CLP classification: Skin Corr. 1B (H314), Met. Corr. 1 (H290) (verify against ECHA C&L Inventory https://echa.europa.eu/information-on-chemicals before relying)
  • Signal word: DANGER. GHS pictograms: GHS05
  • IARC: Not classified (verify against https://monographs.iarc.who.int/list-of-classifications)
  • NOT subject to Drug Precursors or Explosives Precursors scheduling
  • ADR / RID transport classification: Class 8 (corrosive), UN 1805 (phosphoric acid solution), Packing Group III for solutions >70 percent

Restrictions and conditions of use

  • NOT on REACH Annex XIV (verify against ECHA https://echa.europa.eu/authorisation-list)
  • NOT classified as SVHC (verify against ECHA https://echa.europa.eu/candidate-list-table)
  • NOT subject to any Annex XVII restriction at industrial-grade level
  • NO active EU AD case on Chinese-origin phosphoric acid currently (verify against EUR-Lex https://eur-lex.europa.eu/ before invoicing)
  • NOT in CBAM Phase 1 scope (CBAM Phase 1 covers fertilisers including some phosphate-derivative products; verify scope of phosphoric acid intermediate against Reg (EU) 2023/956 Annex I before relying)
  • EU has historic AD measures on phosphate-derivative products (verify against EUR-Lex https://eur-lex.europa.eu/ before relying on phosphate-chain duty status)

Importer obligations

A non-EU producer cannot register directly under REACH. The EU importer of record must hold a registration or rely on an Only Representative (OR). Major Chinese producers: Yunnan Yuntianhua, Hubei Xingfa Chemicals Yichang, Hubei Yihua Group, Wengfu Group Guizhou, Guizhou Phosphate Chemical (verify each producer-site pair against the producer's public website before relying on a specific plant).

Required documents

  • REACH registration number on EU side
  • SDS reflecting H290 / H314 classification
  • CLP labelling with GHS05 + DANGER
  • Customs entry HS code 280920 (phosphoric acid and polyphosphoric acids)
  • ADR consignment note Class 8, UN 1805, PG III

Common compliance traps

The pitfalls that have bitten importers on this lane in the past. None of these is theoretical.

  • **Fertiliser intermediates DAP / MAP / TSP downstream chain** (~80 percent of demand globally; verify against IFA or ICIS before quoting) plus food-grade phosphates E338 (~5 to 10 percent) plus industrial cleaning plus metal treatment plus animal feed phosphates
  • NOT SVHC, NOT Annex XIV, NO active EU AD on phosphoric acid itself
  • **EU has historic AD measures on phosphate-derivative products** (e.g. trisodium phosphate); verify against EUR-Lex https://eur-lex.europa.eu/ before relying on phosphate-chain duty status
  • Major Chinese producers: Yunnan Yuntianhua, Hubei Xingfa Chemicals Yichang, Hubei Yihua Group, Wengfu Group Guizhou, Guizhou Phosphate Chemical; China dominates global wet-process phosphoric acid capacity (verify percent-of-global share against IFA or ICIS before quoting)
  • Production: wet-process via sulfuric acid plus phosphate rock (~95 percent of global capacity) plus thermal-process (~5 percent legacy)

Where to read next

For substance-level identifiers (formula, molecular weight, SMILES, InChIKey), GHS hazard profile, IMDG transport class, and full sourcing reference for phosphoric acid, see the CAS 7664-38-2 sourcing reference.

For grade-by-grade buying notes, freight maths, supplier-tier pricing, and a worked landed-cost example, the phosphoric acid cornerstone hub covers the full sourcing chain.

For the structure and history of REACH, see the REACH glossary entry.

Need cross-jurisdiction compliance support on this substance? Run it through the REACH / TSCA / IECSC / AICIS / K-REACH checker, or send us the substance and the destination and we will quote FOB China and CIF / DDP landed including the regulatory work on the destination side.

Read next

Cross-jurisdiction profile and sourcing references

Referenced in

5 pages across the Sourzi moat

This term shows up in 4 regulatory pages, 1 topic clusters. Sample backlinks per content type below.

Regulatory (4)

Plus 1 more regulatory pages.

Topic cluster (1)

Free download

Free PDF: the same MSDS verification template the Sourzi team uses to cross-reference factory documents against TSCA, REACH, AICIS, and CDR before booking.