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Chemical management has long been an important part in China’s domestic agendas and global actions, as the potential health and environmental hazards associated with chemicals have raised heightened concerns. It involves multiple industries, various authorities and a complicated network of regulations, standards and inventories.
Today, the increasingly widespread and routine application of chemicals, as well as burgeoning chemical businesses and industries, calls for more profound regulatory changes and more scientific and effective assessment and control measures. To cope with this need and promote the sustainable development of the chemical sector, China has made dedicated efforts to flesh out its chemical management framework by establishing and consolidating regulatory institutions and practices.
This article will enumerate the latest developments in China’s chemical management. From the freshly unveiled revision of MEP Order No. 7 to the increased alignment with international conventions, China is demonstrating its commitment to sound management and safer handling of chemicals.
Improved Paradigm of New Chemical Management
On April 29, 2020, the Chinese Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) published the amendments of the Measures for the Environmental Management of New Chemical Substances (MEP Order No. 7 of 2010) [1]. The overarching new chemical management code is thereby renamed as the Measures for the Environmental Management Registration of New Chemical Substances (MEE Order No. 12 of 2020) [2] and set to take effect starting from January 1, 2021.
The existing program has been in place for nearly one decade as an overarching framework for the country’s new chemical management. However, since some of its provisions cannot address the immediate environmental management requirements, a revision had been discussed and worked on for years. Following a public consultation in July 2019 and notification to the WTO in September 2019, it was finally approved on February 17, 2020.
In line with a problem-oriented philosophy and by encouraging involvement of various stakeholders, the new Measures places a bigger focus on environmental risks, certainly echoing the draft Regulations on Environmental Risk Assessment and Control of Chemical Substances [3] which was published in early 2019. (Some sources claim that the Regulations is now renamed the Regulations on Environmental Risk Assessment and Control of Toxic and Hazardous Chemical Substances and has been submitted to the Ministry of Justice already.)
The other highlights include optimized registration and review criteria, simplified post-registration reporting requirements, improved procedures for inclusion into the Inventory of Existing Chemical Substances (IECSC), and clarified environmental regulatory requirements during and after the registration process. For more details about the adjustments made in the new Measures, see ChemLinked news [4].
Going All-out for Safer Handling of HazChem
n An upcoming law expected to replace Decree 591
Safety is one of top priorities for chemical management authorities in China, which has been made even more so by the devastating accidents occurring in recent years. Previously on January 5, 2020, the Ministry of Emergency Management (MEM) circulated the second draft of the Law on Safety of Hazardous Chemicals [5] to emergency management administrations at various levels to solicit their comments and opinions.
For the time being, hazardous chemicals in China are regulated under the Regulations on the Control over Safety of Hazardous Chemicals (see Chempedia [6]), an administrative regulation which is also known as Decree 591. However, in view of the less-than-reassuring safety situations associated with hazardous chemicals and the existing blank spots and overlaps in regulatory practices, the central government has reckoned it necessary to establish a State-level law so as to fundamentally unify and enhance legislative measures for ensuring safety of hazardous chemicals. For detailed introduction of the Law’s second draft, see ChemLinked news [7].
On April 22, the MEM released the third draft of the Law, aiming to collect feedback from local governments at various levels, State agencies, and relevant central enterprises and industry associations till May 10. Some additions and adjustments made in this draft, once adopted in the future, may wield a tremendous amount of influence over the chemical sector.
Besides the provision on a State-level catalogue of prohibited and restricted hazardous chemicals, the new draft specifies that local authorities may develop their own catalogues based on their actual conditions. Meanwhile, it is proposed for the first time that the license for production safety of hazardous chemicals, license for use safety of hazardous chemicals and license for operation safety of hazardous chemicals will be integrated into one.
The application of information technology will be further promoted in the management of hazardous chemicals. The draft encourages the building of a hazardous chemical management information platform, so as to enable IT-based management of hazardous chemicals throughout their lifecycles.
In terms of hazardous chemical registration, the draft further clarifies its application scope (chemical substances which meet the criteria of hazardous chemicals should be registered) and specifies exemption conditions. The other substantial changes include license contents, SDS and labelling requirements for importers, risk information disclosure of enterprises constituting major hazard installations for hazardous chemicals, simplified procedures for certain businesses engaged in manufacture and operation of hazardous chemicals, etc.
The Law, if approved, will form the basis of the reform of hazardous chemical management in China. ChemLinked will break down its details as soon as it is officially published.
n A State-level guideline for HazChem workplace safety
In late February this year, the General Office of the CPC Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council jointly published the Opinions for Comprehensively Enhancing Workplace Safety concerning Hazardous Chemicals [8], a master plan guiding the work on workplace safety concerning hazardous chemicals for a considerable time to come.
Aiming to improve the country’s governance system and capacity for workplace safety concerning hazardous chemicals, the Opinions lays out general requirements in five aspects, including: (1) place particular emphasis on safety risks control; (2) enhance safety management throughout the industry chain; (3) ensure that enterprises assume primary responsibilities; (4) strengthen fundamental underpinnings for the work (e.g. science and information technology and professional expertise); and (5) bolster regulatory capabilities.
More specific requirements are provided under each of the five aspects. For example, with respect to safety risks control, the Opinions requires that measures be taken to deepen screening of safety risks, promote industrial restructuring and develop stringent standards and norms. Notably, it proposes that a three-year action plan for improving hazardous chemical safety shall be launched.
Following the Opinions, which is positioned as a guideline in the regard, various localities and agencies are moving to advance the work in light of their own actual conditions or specialties. On May 6, for example, the Ministry of Transport (MOT) published the Opinions for Comprehensively Enhancing Workplace Safety concerning Transport of Hazardous Chemicals [9], specifying requirements in exactly the same five aspects as listed above, yet certainly with an all-round focus on transport-related matters.
Catalogue-based Management in Full Swing
Catalogue-based management of hazardous chemicals is repeatedly raised and highlighted in a number of documents and guidelines, including the Comprehensive Program for Managing Safety of Hazardous Chemicals [10], the Thirteenth Five-year Plan for Safe Production of Hazardous Chemicals [11] and the draft Law illustrated in the second part.
On May 7, 2020, the MEE, Ministry of Information and Technology (MIIT), and National Health Commission (NHC) jointly released for public feedback the draft Inventory of Priority Controlled Chemicals (Second Batch) [12], proposing to add 19 chemicals to the inventory of chemicals subject to priority control measures. The first batch of Priority Controlled Chemicals [13] were designated in December of 2018, which included 22 chemicals.
In the regulatory context of China, “priority controlled chemicals” refer to chemical substances that are highly hazardous to the environment or health, may exist for a long time in the environment, and may pose unreasonable risks to the ecosystem and human health. For more details about the Inventory and control measures imposed on substances listed therein, see ChemLinked news [14].
In addition to establishing inventories and catalogues based on domestic needs, China is also working to keep aligned with international conventions it enters into or accedes to. For instance, on December 30, 2019, the MEE, along with the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) and the General Administration of Customs (GACC), jointly published the Inventory of Severely Restricted Toxic Chemicals (2020) [15]. The Inventory is devised based on the Stockholm Convention, the Minamata Convention and the Rotterdam Convention, as the Conventions and their Conference of the Parties previously decided to exercise prohibitive or restrictive measures against the specified chemicals.
What’s Next?
Certainly, China does not stop here. In the months and even years ahead, we are expecting the revision of supporting documents for MEE Order No. 12 (including the Guidance and all sorts of forms involved), an official version of the hazardous chemical law, a three-year plan for safer handling of hazardous chemicals, separate inventories of dangerous goods prohibited in different means of transport (as required in the MOT’s Opinions), etc.
China has done plenty, and a lot more is awaiting us.
