On May 26, 2020, the General Office of the Chinese State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) announced that action would be taken nationwide to examine product safety and quality of hazardous chemicals, packaging materials of hazardous chemicals and vehicle-carrying tanks which are used to contain hazardous chemicals [1]. This campaign is being implemented to pave the way for the implementation of the Opinions for Comprehensively Enhancing Workplace Safety concerning Hazardous Chemicals [2], a master plan guiding the work on workplace safety concerning hazardous chemicals.
According to the SAMR, local administrations for market regulation shall urge enterprises which have been granted with licenses for manufacturing hazardous chemicals, packaging materials of hazardous chemicals (excluding large fixed tanks storing hazardous chemicals) and vehicle-carrying tanks which are used to contain hazardous chemicals to develop a checklist for the screening of quality and safety risks, conduct an all-round self-examination and rectify any problems identified.
Besides pushing relevant enterprises to assume primary responsibilities, local administrations for market regulation ought to identify their priority areas, products, indicators and issues based on monitoring results of quality and safety risks, examine whether the enterprises can maintain their qualification for manufacturing licenses, and conduct product quality inspections in accordance with the Product Quality Law [3] when necessary.
The monitoring of quality and safety risks should be stepped up, and stringent actions should be taken to crack down on violations regarding product quality. Meanwhile, to address the risks identified by authorities and themselves, enterprises should set up accounts, come up with countermeasures and timetables and rectify any issues as scheduled.
The SAMR also emphasized that local authorities should make targeted moves based on their own conditions, and report information concerning the work to upper-level authorities promptly.
