Custom software for Poison Centre Notification and UFI management
A UFI belongs not to a product or a brand, but to a formulation. That sounds like a detail until something in the composition changes: then it is not a single label that needs updating, but a chain of formulation, notification, label and safety data sheet that must all align again.
What Annex VIII requires of you
Anyone placing a hazardous mixture on the market notifies the poison centres. That notification is submitted through the European Chemicals Agency portal in a prescribed format. It includes, among other things, the trade name, the UFI, the classification and labelling, toxicological information, and the composition of the mixture with concentrations or concentration ranges.
The UFI itself is a unique code of sixteen alphanumeric characters in four blocks, preceded by the letters UFI and a colon. The code contains a check digit, so a typing error stands out. The code should appear on the label; for industrial use and for mixtures that are not packaged, it may appear on the safety data sheet.
The obligation came into force in stages: for consumer and professional mixtures the deadline was early 2021, for industrial use early 2024. Companies that have been supplying for years therefore hold a portfolio of notifications of different ages, made by different people.
Management lies in the changes. If a component is added, replaced or removed, or if a concentration falls outside the stated range, a new UFI and therefore a new notification is required. A supplier who changes the UFI of an ingredient mixture also affects your dossier. This is exactly the kind of link that gets lost in a spreadsheet.
How we build this
The core is the formulation, not the article. One formulation can be sold under several trade names and in several packagings, and they share the same UFI as long as the composition remains the same.
Components, concentrations and ranges are kept together. The trade names, packagings and markets where the mixture is supplied all hang from this.
A UFI is attached to a formulation. The system records which code belongs to which version, so an old package on the shelf can still be traced.
If a component changes or a concentration falls outside its range, the system signals that a new code and a new notification are needed.
The data the portal asks for is built from your own sources, so you do not have to compile it by hand for each notification.
What the software actually does
The formulation register carries the whole. What else you need depends on your range and on whether you also purchase mixtures to process.
Formulations with versions
Every change in composition creates a new version. This keeps visible which code applied to the product you supplied last year.
UFI register
Which code has been issued, for which formulation, since when, and where it was published: on the label or on the safety data sheet.
Signal on composition change
Adding, replacing or removing a component, or a concentration outside its range, triggers a notice that action is required.
Tracking ingredient mixtures
If a supplier changes the UFI of a mixture you process, that affects your own notification. We keep track of that dependency.
Preparing the submission
The notification data is built from your formulations and classifications, ready for submission through the portal.
Overview by market
Which mixtures have been notified where, and for what use. For a portfolio of any size, this is the overview that is usually missing.
Who we build for
Who manages this varies by company. Four situations.
Formulators
They change compositions most often and so are the first to run into new UFIs and renewed notifications.
Importers and distributors
If you place a mixture on the market under your own name, you carry the obligation yourself, even if the formulation comes from someone else.
Regulatory departments
They keep classification, label, safety data sheet and notification consistent with one another. That is the same truth held in four places.
Smaller producers without a dedicated department
With a limited range, the task falls to someone who handles it alongside other duties. In that case, what matters most is that the system raises the alert, rather than relying on someone to remember.
Test your idea first: a working prototype in 1 day
With OneDayBuild, we turn your idea into something tangible in one day for €1,150, so you can see whether further development is worth the investment. Decide to go ahead with the full build? Then we credit the full cost.
Explore OneDayBuild →Technology and integrations
The submission format is revised, use categories are tightened and classification rules change. Fields, ranges and validations should be configurable and not hard-coded.
Why Appfront
The code is tied to the formulation
Not to the article number and not to the brand. We model that link explicitly, because this is where most errors arise.
A change is an event
An amended formulation is not a minor correction but a trigger. We turn it into a signal rather than a note.
What was supplied yesterday counts too
Products with an older code are still on the shelf. The register records which code applied in which period.
We do not submit anything on your behalf
The notification remains an action and a responsibility of your organisation. We ensure the data matches your own records.
Security and privacy
A formulation register contains the recipes of your products, which is highly confidential business information. We set access per role, give production different visibility from regulatory, and record who has viewed which composition. Integrations run through secure connections to your existing software.
On this subject, the reliability of the moment is the crux. A composition that is adjusted after a notification has already run makes the file unreliable. We record changes irreversibly with time and person, and turn a correction into a visible correction alongside the original entry. How we handle security ourselves is set out in our information security policy.
Frequently asked questions about PCN and the UFI
When a component is added, replaced or removed, or when the concentration falls outside the stated range. Also when a supplier changes the UFI of a mixture you process, that affects your own code.
On the label. For industrial use and for mixtures that are not packaged, the code may be stated on the safety data sheet. The designation consists of the letters UFI in capitals, a colon and the code.
Sixteen alphanumeric characters in four blocks, with a built-in check. That check is why an incorrectly typed code is noticed rather than silently passing through.
For mixtures for consumers and for professional use it applied from early 2021, and for industrial use from early 2024. As a result, many companies have notifications of different ages sitting side by side.
Yes, and that is usually the crux. The formulations already exist somewhere; the point is to avoid a second list of compositions that drifts away from the first. See our approach to custom software development.
Yes. Checking the code on a label is covered on our UFI app page.
Do you know which UFI belongs to last year's batch?
Pick a product whose formulation was once changed and find out which code was on the label at the time. If that takes more than a few minutes, that is the gap. We build this as a standalone application or as part of a broader custom software project.
If your submissions also vary by market, look at PCN dossier software and the packaging and labelling data app.