China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) has released a draft law on chemicals for public consultation. The proposed law – the Regulation on the Evaluation and Control of Chemical Substances – may potentially affect all organizations manufacturing, importing or using chemicals within the country.
The proposed law is intending to improve the management of both new and existing substances in China and would mimic USA’s TSCA or Japan’s Chemical Substances Control Law (CSCL).
The following are some of the main aspects of the draft:
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- Consistent updates to the Inventory of Existing Chemical Substances in China (IECSC). The inventory will include all chemicals produced or used prior to the establishment of the new substance notification system.
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- Annual reporting will be required by manufacturers, downstream users, or importers of substances to the MEE with the substance name, substance use, quantity produced, manufactured/imported in previous calendar year. The draft does not note any exemptions for small volumes and therefore is expected to impact all organizations.
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- Environmental risk screening of substances organized by MEE. The MEE will establish an inventory for substances subjected to priority evaluation. Companies producing or importing substances subject to priority evaluation will be required to provide environmental release data, local environmental conditions, physio-chemical properties, toxicology and eco-toxicity data.
The deadline for commenting on the draft regulation is February 20, 2019.
For further information regarding the draft regulation or China GHS, please contact Nexreg!
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