China to Formulate More Stringent Coating Technical Requirements

Following on from the “Three –year Plan on Defending the Blue Sky”, National Technical Committee on coating and pigment standardization (SAC/TC5) submitted a project proposal for formulating a national recommended standard: Technical Requirements on Coating Products with Low Volatile Organic Compound Content (低挥发性有机化合物含量涂料产品技术要求). The standard is scheduled for promulgation in 2019.

According to the “Three-year Plan”, MANDATORY standards specifying VOC limits of coating, ink, adhesives, detergents, etc. are required to be promulgated by 2019. Considering China already has 9 standards (refer to below table for details) regulating the harmful substances limits in different coating usage scenarios, a new mandatory standard will lead to inter-standard conflict and contradictory data generation requirements. To remedy this, MIIT together with related departments and institutions decided to formulate a national recommended standard with higher VOC limit requirements. MEE is suggested to cite the standard and forcefully implement it in key regions.

Table: Harmful substances limits in Coatings