China Adopts Group Standard for Coding and Labeling of Hazardous Chemicals

On December 25, 2023, the China Chemical Safety Association (CCSA) announced the group standard “T/CCSAS 047-2023 Technical specification for coding and labeling of hazardous chemicals”. This group standard, formulated in collaboration with the National Registration Center for Chemicals (NRCC) under the Ministry of Emergency Management (MEM), as well as the Shanghai Emergency Management Bureau (SEMB) and Chemical Registration Center, is now in effect.

T/CCSAS 047-2023 provides guidelines for the coding and labeling of hazardous chemicals, including coding principles, coding structure and parsing, information identification, and use requirements. It applies to the coding and identification of hazardous chemicals safety information code (Hazchem QR Code) in the production, storage, transportation, operation, use, etc. of hazardous chemicals.

The draft version of this group standard was opened for public comments until August 31, 2023 (CL news). Taking into account feedback from stakeholders, the CCSA recently adopted this group standard to offer technical specifications for enterprises regarding the use of the Hazchem QR Code. Compared with the draft, there are no significant changes in the official version, except for some updates to specific terms and definitions.

Terms	Definitions
Terms	Previous	Current
Hazardous chemicals safety information	Name, hazard classification, control requirements, safe operation, emergency disposal, and other safety management-related information of hazardous chemicals.	Name, hazard classification, control requirements, safe operation, emergency disposal, and other safety management-related information of hazardous chemicals. Suppliers, types, batches, packaging specifications, expiration dates and other relevant information can be added as needed.
Hazardous chemicals safety information code	The QR code generated via the Hazardous Chemical Registration Comprehensive Service System to label hazard information of chemicals, including the supplier information and hazardous chemicals safety information, which can also be extended to include the production batch, packaging, expiration date, and other production information according to enterprise needs.	The QR code generated via the Hazardous Chemical Registration Comprehensive Service System to label hazard information of chemicals.

The updates in T/CCSAS 047-2023 emphasize the importance of “uniqueness” for the Hazchem QR Code, i.e., it only refers to the QR code automatically generated via the Hazardous Chemical Registration Comprehensive Service System launched by the NRCC after completing the Hazchem registration. Enterprises can intergrade the Hazchem QR Code with other information codes, electronic waybills, etc. through coding fusion technology to make different systems display different content when scanning the code while ensuring that the hazardous chemicals safety information is accessible to the public and authorities by scanning the QR code.

Together with T/CCSAS 047-2023, another group standard “T/CCSAS 048-2023 Technical specification for selection of electronic labels for hazardous chemicals” was also issued and took effect on December 25, 2023. T/CCSAS 048-2023 specifies the requirements for the selection and application specifications, as well as test methods of electronic tags for hazardous chemicals. It applies to the electronic tags identified by radio frequency that are used in the production, storage, transportation, operation, use, waste disposal and other stages of hazardous chemicals.

***The English translations of these two group standards are available on ChemLinked：

Background

In February 2022, China launched a new platform for the registration of hazardous chemicals (Hazchem), which allows manufacturers or importers that obliged to complete Hazchem registration to generate hazardous chemicals safety information code (Hazchem QR Code) online automatically. Scanning the generated Hazchem QR Code gives you quick and easy access to the basic information automatically extracted from the Hazchem registration applications, including:

Chemical name,
CAS number,
Hazchem registration number,
Enterprise name,
Label elements (signal words, hazard pictograms, hazard statement), first aid measures,
Emergency response for leakage,
Firefighting methods, etc.

In many regions of China, e.g., Guangzhou province, Shandong province, Zhejiang province, etc., enterprises that manufacture/import hazardous chemicals shall affix the generated Hazchem QR Code to the packages or display it on the blank space of the corresponding labels (see figure below). This facilitates easy access to chemical safety information for downstream users, regulatory authorities, emergency rescue teams, and related personnel.

To regulate the management and utilization of the Hazchem QR Code and promote the effective transfer of the corresponding Hazchem information, the MEM has drafted the Regulations on the Management of Hazardous Chemical Safety Information Codes (Trial) in 2022. It’s not finalized so far. The abovementioned two group standards provide technical specifications for enterprises regarding the use of Hazchem QR Code.