The ECHA submission portal, step by step

Step 1 · Create your ECHA account (once, ~5 min)

Go to the ECHA website and open the ECHA Accounts sign-up. You will see a short form asking for a username, your name, a work email address and a password. Verify the email through the link you receive, then log in and activate two-factor authentication when prompted — the portal will insist on it sooner or later, so do it now with a phone authenticator app.

What the screen looks like: a plain white form titled "Create account", with the mandatory fields marked by red asterisks, and a CAPTCHA at the bottom.

Step 2 · Create your legal entity (once, ~5 min)

Inside your ECHA account, open "My Legal Entities" and create one. This is your company as ECHA will know it: legal name exactly as registered, address, country and VAT number. Sole traders can register as a natural person doing business. Every notification you ever submit hangs from this legal entity, so check the spelling — changing it later is possible but tedious.

What the screen looks like: a two-column form ("General information" / "Contact address") with a blue "Create" button at the bottom right.

Step 3 · Enter the ECHA Submission portal

From the ECHA site, open the ECHA Submission portal and log in with your account. The first time, you accept the terms of use on behalf of your legal entity. On the dashboard, look for the option to "Prepare a poison centre notification online" — you do not need any external software for a normal PCN.

What the screen looks like: a dashboard with a large search bar for your past submissions and, on the upper right, the buttons "Prepare online" and "Upload IUCLID dossier". You want Prepare online.

Step 4 · Fill the PCN dossier (this is where your summary shines)

The online form mirrors the sections of your UFINotify dossier summary, in the same order:

• Product information — trade name(s), UFI (paste from the generator), EuPCS category, colour, physical state, pH, packaging types and sizes.
• Classification & labelling — hazard classes, signal word, H-phrases, pictograms: copy from section 2 of your SDS.
• Toxicological information — free-text field: paste section 11 of your SDS.
• Composition — each substance with its identifier and exact concentration or an allowed range; purchased fragrances or premixes go in as MiM (mixture in mixture) with their own UFI or their supplier's SDS data.
• Market area & use type — tick the countries, choose consumer / professional / industrial.

With the wizard summary printed next to your keyboard, this is pure transcription — about 10 minutes.

Step 5 · Validate — and fix the classics

Press Validate. The portal checks your dossier against the Annex VIII business rules and lists any failures with rule codes. The classics, and their fixes:

• Missing or non-leaf EuPCS category — you picked a parent category; open the tree and choose the most specific level.
• Concentration range too wide — Annex VIII caps range widths depending on hazard and concentration band; narrow the range or use the exact value.
• Hazardous component without concentration — every classified substance in the mixture needs its amount declared.
• UFI/VAT mismatch — the UFI was generated with a different VAT number than your legal entity's; regenerate it with the right one.
• Missing language — some market countries require the dossier's free-text parts in their language.

Step 6 · Submit, then archive two things

When validation passes, press Submit. You immediately get a submission number, and shortly after, the submission report appears in your dashboard. Download the report as PDF and archive it together with the SDS version you used: that pair is your proof of compliance for inspectors, marketplaces and distributors. Then print the UFI on your labels and sell with a clear conscience.