On November 19th, 2020, the Standardization Administration of China (SAC) published the Guidelines for the Use and Control of Key Chemical Substances in Consumer Products(GB/T 39498-2020) [1], with its effective date on June 1st, 2021.
It is formulated based on EU’s Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 - Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals [2], aka EU REACH. Other references include domestic standards on consumer product quality and safety, as well as international regulations and standards on restricting the use of certain chemicals in consumer products, such as EN71, a set of European Product Safety standard that applies to all toys sold in the EU.
In light of the status quo of China’s consumer product industry, the Guidelines provides principles and recommendations for the use and control of key chemical substances in consumer products, and applies to consumer goods, including products’ parts, components, packaging, etc.
Products which are subject to special regulation, such as food, cosmetics and special equipment, are not included in its application scope.
In the Guidelines, a total of 117 chemical substances are listed, along with recommendations on controlling their use and the scope of consumer goods in which they can be used. The recommendations are mostly limits set on their content and release and migration amounts, as well as whether their use is prohibited or not.
This Guidelines serves as the basis for consumer product regulators to carry out the regulation of and inspections on consumer product quality and safety, and specifies relevant safety requirements for businesses involving consumer products.
