Who can buy?

Gillaberg offers chemicals to business enterprises, institutions and private consumers. As a general rule, anyone can buy and there are no sales restrictions enforced on chemicals that are not explicitly classified as hazardous.

Gillaberg will however refuse to sell a chemical product if it is apparent, or there is otherwise reason to suspect, that the chemical is intended to be used:

for intoxication, self-harm, suicide or misused in such a way that it may cause a health hazard;
in manufacturing of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) or homemade explosives (HMEs), or
it is evident that the chemical will be used or disposed of, in a way that may cause an environmental hazard.

Chemical specific purchase restrictions

Sales of hazardous chemicals are regulated by Finnish chemicals legislation and an increasing number of EU regulations. Purchase restrictions applicable to a specific chemical are listed on the chemical’s product page under the section ‘Purchase and Usage Restrictions‘. These restrictions are described below.

Chemicals labelled as restricted to professional users

Some chemicals are required by the REACH Regulation (EC 1907/2006) to be marked: ‘Restricted to professional users’ or ‘For professional users only’ and must not be made available to the general public. Additionally, a number of chemicals are by Gillaberg’s discretion labelled as ‘Professional use only’.

Private individuals making a purchase are required to provide assurance that the customer is a bona fide professional user of the chemical being acquired.
An assurance is required for each chemical substance marked and labelled as a professional product. The assurance needs to be given once, via an electronic click-through form, at initial checkout. The assurance is valid for five years, after which a reaffirmation will be requested.

Chemicals classified as acute toxic in hazard categories 1 – 3

Chemicals that are assigned acute toxicity hazard category 1, 2 and/or 3, when classified according to the CLP Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008, are considered poisonous. These are chemicals that can be identified by the ‘skull and crossbones’ pictogram.

Private individuals purchasing poisonous chemicals must:

be 18 years of age to be eligible for purchase and
provide an end-user statement describing the intended usage, including an assurance that the chemical will be stored in a locked space

Chemicals marked as explosives precursors

Some of the chemicals offered are marked on the product page as explosives precursors. This marking is applied solely at the discretion of Gillaberg and based on a priori knowledge on how the chemical can be used.

Private individuals, who are not registered as a sole proprietorship; carrying a trade or similar, are restricted to purchase a maximum of 1 kilogram or litre per a rolling 6-month period

Chemicals listed as restricted explosives precursors in Regulation (EU) 2019/1148

Regulation (EU) 2019/1148 covers chemicals that could be misused for the illicit manufacture of explosives.

Customers purchasing restricted explosives precursors will need to fill in a customer statement and provide a scanned copy of their proof of ID. The customer statement is valid for no longer than 12 months.

Professional users, as they are defined in the Regulation, will additionally need the show that the intended use is consistent with their trade, business or profession.

Members of the general public, as they are defined in the Regulation, need to provide:

a license, issued by the national competent authority. The licence must be sent to Gillaberg prior to order dispatch
Gillaberg will record the transaction details to the acquisition records section of the license.

Licence regimes for restricted explosives precursors are, to the best of Gillaberg’s knowledge, available to members of the general public being residents in the following countries: Austria, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and UK.

Chemicals listed as scheduled substances in Regulation (EC) No 273/2004 on drug precursors

Regulation (EC) No 273/2004 covers control and monitoring of substances used for illicit manufacture of narcotic drugs. Gillaberg does not offer category 1 listed chemical substances. Category 2 covers less sensitive substances and pre-cursors.

Customers that are purchasing a chemical listed in subcategory 2A of Annex I, need to provide a licence issued by the national competent authority and a customer declaration, unless the customer uses quantities less than the threshold quantity listed in Annex II over a period of one year, in which case the customer need to inform Gillaberg, that Article 6 is applicable and no customer declaration or licence is required.

Chemicals classified as dual-use items material in Regulation (EU) 2021/821

Gillaberg chemical product offering includes guanidine nitrate (CAS 506-93-4), which is classified as a dual-use items material under category 1C011.

An authorisation is needed when exporting this chemical outside the European Union. If the transaction is out of scope for an EU General Export Authorisation (EU001 – EU007), then an individual export licence must be applied for from the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

Country specific purchase restrictions

Denmark

Gillaberg will not sell chemicals and substances that are covered by the Danish executive order 956/2014 on explosives precursors, unless distribution to (i.e. import into) Denmark is for a commercial purpose, or a license issued by the Danish competent authority is provided.

Sweden

Very hazardous chemicals, i.e. chemicals labelled with the signal word 'Danger', will not be sold to private persons, unless a permit issued by the County Administration is provided.

UK

Chemical substances listed as regulated poisons in Part 2 of the Poisons Act 1972 will not be sold to members of the general public, as these substances may only be supplied by a registered pharmacist.

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