This page is a blank structure, not a filled in safety data sheet, and not one for any product. A real SDS can only be issued by the supplier: the manufacturer, importer, downstream user or distributor who places the material on the market. We are a broker and never take title, so we are not that party and neither is any other broker. What we can do is show you the shape the document has to have, so you can see at a glance whether the one in your inbox is complete. The format below follows Annex II of REACH as replaced by Commission Regulation (EU) 2020/878, mandatory for every safety data sheet circulating in the EU since 1 January 2023.
The 16 sections, in the order they must appear
The order is prescribed. A document that renumbers or merges sections is not a compliant safety data sheet, however good the content is.
| 1. Identification of the substance/mixture and of the company/undertaking | 1.1 Product identifier. 1.2 Relevant identified uses and uses advised against. 1.3 Details of the supplier of the safety data sheet. 1.4 Emergency telephone number. See the warning below about 1.3. |
|---|---|
| 2. Hazards identification | Classification, label elements, and any hazards not covered by classification. For waste-derived oils this is where variability between batches starts to matter. |
| 3. Composition/information on ingredients | 3.1 Substances or 3.2 Mixtures, whichever applies. Pyrolysis oil is typically a UVCB, which changes how this section reads and is worth getting right: see REACH for pyrolysis oil. |
| 4. First aid measures | By route of exposure, plus delayed effects. |
| 5. Firefighting measures | Suitable and unsuitable extinguishing media, special hazards from the material, and advice for firefighters. |
| 6. Accidental release measures | Personal precautions, environmental precautions, containment and clean up. |
| 7. Handling and storage | Where inerting, nitrogen blanketing and temperature limits belong for materials that oxidise. See pyrolysis oil on why that matters commercially as well as for safety. |
| 8. Exposure controls/personal protection | Occupational exposure limits and the controls that go with them. |
| 9. Physical and chemical properties | The section buyers read first for commercial purposes, though it is NOT a substitute for a batch certificate of analysis. |
| 10. Stability and reactivity | Reactivity, chemical stability, conditions and materials to avoid, hazardous decomposition products. Peroxide formation belongs here. |
| 11. Toxicological information | By hazard class, with the data source. |
| 12. Ecological information | Toxicity, persistence, mobility, PBT and vPvB. |
| 13. Disposal considerations | Waste treatment methods. Note this is disposal guidance and does not settle the material's waste status: see waste plastics. |
| 14. Transport information | UN number, proper shipping name, class, packing group, environmental hazards. This is what a forwarder actually works from, and it has to come from the producer rather than a general rule. |
| 15. Regulatory information | Safety, health and environmental regulations specific to the substance or mixture, and whether a chemical safety assessment has been done. |
| 16. Other information | Revision date, abbreviations, references, and what changed since the previous version. An SDS with no revision date is a warning sign. |
Section 1.3, and the mistake we see most
Section 1.3 names the supplier of the safety data sheet, with address, telephone number and the e-mail of a competent person. It is the field that tells a reader who is legally behind the document and who to reach in an emergency.
The mistake is putting an intermediary there. A trader, agent or broker who puts their own details in 1.3 has not customised the document, they have misidentified the responsible party. If something goes wrong on a terminal at two in the morning, the person reading section 1.3 needs the party who knows what is actually in the tank.
- Ask your producer for their sheet rather than making one. It is their obligation and their document.
- Check the format is current. A sheet in the pre-2023 layout is not merely dated, it is non compliant.
- Check the language. It has to be in the official language of the member state where the material is placed on the market, and a cargo going to several countries may need several versions.
- Never accept an SDS in place of a certificate of analysis. They answer different questions: see documents and safety data sheets.
Using this as a checklist
The quickest use of the table above is as a completeness check on a sheet somebody has just sent you. Four things account for most of the rejections we see at receiving terminals: a missing or stale revision date in section 16, an incomplete section 14 so the forwarder cannot classify the load, an intermediary sitting in 1.3, and the old pre-2023 layout.
If yours fails on any of those, it is usually a five minute fix at the producer rather than a problem with the cargo. It is worth catching before the buyer does.
Frequently asked questions
Can I download a blank SDS template?
The structure is set out in full on this page, section by section, following Annex II of REACH as replaced by Commission Regulation (EU) 2020/878. You can work straight from it. What we deliberately do not publish is a filled in safety data sheet for a product, because a real SDS has to be issued by the supplier who places the material on the market, and section 1.3 has to name that party.
Who has to write the safety data sheet, me or my broker?
The supplier, meaning whoever places the substance or mixture on the market. That is the producer, importer, downstream user or distributor, never the broker. If you are the producer, it is yours to issue. If you bought the material, ask whoever sold it to you. A broker offering to issue one on their own letterhead is telling you something useful about themselves.
Is an MSDS the same as an SDS?
MSDS is the older term and it is still used constantly in the trade. In the EU the correct term is safety data sheet, and its required content and layout come from Annex II of REACH as replaced by Regulation (EU) 2020/878, mandatory since 1 January 2023. If someone sends you a document headed MSDS in an old layout, ask for a current one before you plan a shipment around it.
How do I know if a safety data sheet is out of date?
Look at section 16 first: it should carry a revision date and say what changed. Then check the layout matches the 16 section structure on this page, since sheets written before 2023 often do not. Then check section 14 is complete enough for a forwarder to classify the load. Those three checks catch most of it.
Do I need an SDS if my material is a waste?
The REACH duty attaches to substances and mixtures placed on the market, and waste sits outside REACH until it reaches end of waste status. That does not leave you with nothing to produce: waste shipments carry their own documentation and the transport classification still has to be established. See REACH for pyrolysis oil.
Market news
Recent headlines from across the feedstock and renewable fuel sector. Nothing specific to this market has come through the wires lately, so this is the wider view. The links go to the publisher; we do not host or edit their reporting, and a headline here is not our endorsement of it. Scroll for more.
- Indonesia’s palm oil export growth slows ahead of B50 biodiesel rollout
- Sorghum producers urge US Senate to preserve year-round E15
- Peninsula and Evos plan biofuel hub at Algeciras
- PureCycle increases revenue in Q3
- PowerCell clinches SEK 21 million order for integrated Fuel-to-Power system
- MFA looking to address maritime liens in bunker contracts to support the understanding of rights, risks, and remedies for stakeholders
- IPG launches new PCR Air Pillow Film
- New IMarEST analysis evaluates IMO NZF amendment options ahead of ISWG-GHG 22
- Results of new MESD study ‘demonstrate the qualified readiness of existing large harbour craft in Singapore for B100 adoption’
- Envision to explore green hydrogen design for Sasol’s Sasolburg facility
- Scaling circular investment: From barriers to opportunity
- Circular Packaging Challenge 2026: international open call for startups advancing packaging circularity
- RI.CIRCO.LO.: helping Lombardy's SMEs develop circular initiatives in priority sectors
- Axens launches a new ERA for French SAF
- Public procurement: the hidden EU bioeconomy driver
15 headlines, updated automatically. Last refreshed .
Sources and further reading
Primary sources for the rules and figures on this page, so you can check them yourself. Legislation is amended: always read the consolidated text on the date that matters to you.
Who to ask about SDS template
Just ask. Send us the sheet you were given and we will tell you what a buyer will send back. That is usually quicker than finding out from them. You get Bart van den Brug on the other end, same working day, in English or Dutch, and across the team also in French, Portuguese, Polish, Czech and Russian.
On how we work: we are a broker, so we never take title and we do not trade our own book. We are paid a commission on business that concludes, which is why you will also hear it from us when the answer is no, or when your parcel is not ready for the conversation you want to have. A market read or a second opinion on a specification costs nothing and commits you to nothing.
Happy to look at whatever you have, even if it is half an analysis and a question.
+31 6 115 83 448
[email protected]
Sustainable Commodities 3 B.V., Lemmer, the Netherlands
Last reviewed 09 August 2026. Regulatory references are given for orientation and are not legal advice: verify against the current Official Journal text before contracting.