By a notice issued on April 7, 2023, the Chinese Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) made public 3,069 new chemical record notifications that were received in the second half of 2022, covering more than 21,600 new chemical substances. The attached list contains the applicant and the corresponding representative agent (if any), the time for record notification, the receipt number and the number of new chemical substances. Details can be accessed here.
Under MEE Order No. 12, new chemicals manufactured or imported in quantities below 1 ton per year, polymers containing less than 2% of a new chemical monomer/recant or PLCs are subject to record notification. Notably, there’s no approval for record notification, which means that businesses can start relevant activities immediately after submitting application materials and receiving the receipt sent via the online registration system.
However, in practice, it doesn’t mean that obligations under record notification are that easy to fulfill. The MEE will conduct spot checks of the submitted materials. The applicants in question will be asked to provide materials for supplementary or correction. If applicants fail in providing the required materials within the limited period, the record notification receipts will be revoked, and the corresponding activities will be ordered to cease.
