China MEP Published 1st Batch of Priority Chemicals

On Dec 28th 2017, Chinese Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) published on its website the Catalogue of Priority Chemicals (1st Batch) （优先控制化学品名录）and explained the risk control measures on these chemicals.

The draft of the Catalogue was issued in October and open to public consultation. The scope of the priority chemicals shrunk from 36 types of chemicals with 59 CAS numbers in the draft to 22 types of chemicals with 38 CAS numbers in the finalized version of the Catalogue. These chemicals will be included in compulsory national standards and restricted or even banned from use in some products.

According to the targets that the Law on the Prevention and Treatment of Atmospheric Pollution and the Law on the Prevention and Treatment of Water Pollution set for MEP, the Catalogue of Priority Chemicals will function as a reference for the development of the List of Toxic and Hazardous Atmospheric Pollutants and the List of Toxic and Hazardous Water Pollutants. After these two Lists are carried out as supportive documents to the above Laws, the enterprises emitting chemicals contained in either of the two Lists are required to obtain pollutant emission permits and pay emission fees.

The priority chemicals will also be combined into the Catalogue of Encouraged Alternatives for Toxic and Hazardous Raw Materials and Products, as “toxic and hazardous raw materials and products”. So according to the Law on the Promotion of Cleaner Production and the Measures on the Cleaner Production Inspection, enterprises that use listed chemicals as raw materials, or discharge these chemicals during production are subject to the “Cleaner Production Inspections”. The result should be reported to the local environmental protection authorities. And the relative information shall be open to public supervision, including the names, quantities
and uses of the chemicals as raw materials, and the names, quantities and concentrations of the discharged chemicals.