China Consults on Chemical Environmental Risk Assessment and Control Regulation

Within the new Chemical Environmental Risk Assessment and Control draft regulation are stipulations on requirements to submit an annual report on activities involving both existing and new chemical substances China will compile inventories on priority controlled, severely restricted and banned chemical substances A recordation system is to take place of current simplified notification system in new chemical substance management

On Jan 8th, 2019, China Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) opened the consultation on the draft Regulations on Chemical Substance Environmental Risk Assessment and Control （化学物质环境风险评估与管控条例（征求意见稿））. The public consultation period will end on Feb 20th, 2019.

The Draft consists of 6 parts, which are:

Chapter 1 General principle
Chapter 2 Chemical substance environmental risk assessment
Chapter 3 Chemical substance environmental risk control
Chapter 4 New chemical substance environmental management registration and risk control
Chapter 5 Legal liability
Chapter 6 Annex

Currently China doesn’t have clear and comprehensive surveillance of the existing chemical substances being manufactured, imported or circulating in its supply chains. In chapter 2 and 3 of the draft, it stipulates new requirements for mandatory nationwide collection of existing chemical substances data. This major reform suggests a move towards development of a “REACH-like” regulation. MEP ORDER 7 (currently under revision), aka China’s New Chemical Environmental Management Regulation, will also likely be influenced by this regulation.

Existing Chemical Substance Environmental Risk Assessment and Control

It’s worth noting that chemical substance prescribed in chapter 2 and 3 and thereafter refers to existing chemical substance. According to Article 11, MEE will be in charge of compiling and publishing the China Chemical Substance Inventory, which is known as the Inventory of Existing Chemical Substances in China (IECSC).

The main points for chemical substances environmental risk assessment include:

Basic Information Report

Companies who manufacture, process, use or import chemical substances shall submit an annual report to MEE of previous year’s chemical substances situation-name, usage, amount, etc.

Environmental Risk Screening

MEE shall conduct chemical substance environmental risk screening and make an assessment plan to prioritize chemical substances classed as persistent, bioaccumulative, or which pose a prohibitively high risk to the ecosystem and human health.

Companies manufacturing, processing or importing chemical substances listed in the priority assessment plan shall report the environmental emission data, necessary physicochemical properties and other toxicological data.

Investigation and Surveillance on chemical substances
Risk Assessment Report

Chemical substance environmental risk control includes:

To establish following listed inventories and implement different management measures accordingly :

Priority Controlled chemical substance inventory (First batch published: ChemLinked news)

Severely Restricted chemical substance inventory (Currently the severely restricted toxic chemical substance inventory)

Prohibited chemical substance inventory

To establish a public information platform on priority controlled chemicals.

New Chemical Substance Environmental Management Registration and Risk Control

New chemical substance environmental management is currently regulated under MEP (predecessor of MEE) ORDER 7, new chemical substance environmental management measures. A very distinguishing adjustment is that new chemical substances currently subject to simplified notification, are to be newly regulated using a recordation system instead:

In addition, this draft stipulates the responsibilities and obligations of manufacturers, importers, users, competent authorities and risk assessment units at length.

*ChemLinked will provide an Expert Article and the English translation of the drafted regulation recently.