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Updates on Dec 20, 2022:
On December 20, 2022, the Chinese Ministry of Emergency Management (MEM) issued a notice on the safety management requirements for diesel oil based on the following regulations.
Regulations on the Control over Safety of Hazardous Chemicals (Decree 591)
Measures for the Administration of Hazardous Chemicals Safe Production Permit
Measures for the Safety Supervision and Administration of Hazardous Chemicals Construction Project
Measures for the Administration of Hazardous Chemicals Operation Permit
Main points of the notice are:
Diesel oil refers to products prescribed in GB 19147 Automobile Diesel Oils and GB 25199 B5 Diesel Fuels (excluding BD100 - biodiesel). Enterprises that manufacture or handle diesel oil should be regulated as hazardous chemical enterprises.
Enterprises (manufacruers or operaters) of diesel oils that have obtained the HazChem Safety Production Permit or the Business License, of which all the diesel oil production and storage facilities are under the unified management for hazardous chemicals, shall update the permitted scope from ‘’diesel oil [closed cup flash point ≤ 60 ℃]' to ‘diesel oil’.
Enterprises (manufacturers or operators) handling diesel oil [closed cup flash point ≤ 60 ℃] that have not obtained safety permit for their diesel oil production and storage facilities should conduct the safety evaluation, if meet the relevant criteria and regulations, they shall apply for the HazChem Safety Production Permit or Business License before June 30, 2023.
All new construction, reconstruction, expansion, production and storage of diesel construction projects must strictly follow the relevant requirements stipulated in the Measures for the Safety Supervision and Administration of Hazardous Chemicals Construction Project.
Diesel oils refueling devices for self-use by enterprises (not for external operation) do not require safety production permits.
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Updates on Dec 5, 2022:
On December 5, 2022, to be in line with the amendments to China's Inventory of Hazardous Chemicals in November, its supporting document – Guidance for Implementation of China 2015 Inventory of Hazardous Chemicals (Trail) was updated and released by the MEM, including the amended Hazardous Chemical Classification Information Sheet attached to the Guidance, by MEM Notification No. 2022-300. Updates in regard to diesel oil are as follows:
Enterprises that manufacture or handle diesel oil should be regulated as hazardous chemical enterprises regardless of flash point.
The hazardous chemical classification information of diesel oil is updated as the figure below shows, deleting [closed cup flash point ≤ 60 ℃].
The above mentioned updates will take effect on January 1, 2023, the same as the amendments to the Inventory. In line with the updated Inventory, many provinces and cities (e.g., Shanxi, Anhui, Sichuan, Tianjin) in China successively issued local documents to clarify their own management requirements for diesel oil.
Local documents | Main requirements |
Shanxi’s Notice on Work for Business License Permit and Supervision of Diesel Oil (Issued on Nov. 16, 2022) |
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Sichuan’s Notice on Further Clarification of Hazchem Licensing Requirements for Diesel Oil (Issued on Nov. 15, 2022) |
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Anhui’s Notice on Work for Business License Permit and Supervision of Diesel Oil (Issued on Nov. 23, 2022) | |
Tianjin’s Notice on Further Clarification of Hazchem Licensing Requirements for Diesel Oil (Issued on Nov.23, 2022) | The requirements are almost the same as those in Sichuan and Anhui. In addition, Tianjin requires related enterprises to timely complete the Hazchem registration and relevant information update via the Hazardous Chemical Registration Comprehensive Service System. |
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On November 7, 2022, the Ministry of Emergency Management (MEM) of the People’s Republic of China issued a notice to make public the update of the China Inventory of Hazardous Substances (2015) (hereinafter referred to as the Inventory), which will take effect on January 1, 2023. The update is:
No. | Current | Updated |
1674 | Diesel oil [closed cup flash point ≤ 60 ℃] | Diesel oil |
It means that all types of diesel oil shall be subject to obligations under the Regulations on the Control over Safety of Hazardous Chemicals (a.k.a. Decree 591) from 2023 regardless of flash point, e.g., hazchem registration, GHS compliance (classification, labeling and SDS), etc.
In line with the update, the supporting document - Hazardous Chemical Classification Information Sheet attached to the Guidance for Implementation of China 2015 Inventory of Hazardous Chemicals (Trial) (hereinafter referred to as the Guidance) is expected to be revised accordingly soon.
Background
In 2015, the authorities revised the Inventory and listed diesel oil with flash point below 60℃ as hazardous chemical, which is classified as ‘Flammable liquid, Category 3’. In August 2020, the MEM published a notice to solicit comments on the draft revision to the Guidance. The MEM proposed that automobile diesel oil with a grade of -10# or above should not be subject to the Inventory, while those with a grade of -20# or below should be regulated as hazardous chemicals in the Inventory (CL news). This proposal is in line with the national standard - Automobile Diesel Oils (GB 19147-2016), which stipulates that the flash point of automobile diesel oils with a grade of -10# or above must not be lower than 60℃. Some regional authorities expressed their misgivings about this proposal.
As per the Inventory, diesel oil should be distinguished by flash point test and regulated according to its flash point. However, in practice, diesel oil is managed by grade. What's more, flash point is not the only factor in causing oil accidents. The high storage volume and low quality may also lead to diesel oil accidents.
The exemption may cause difficulties in regulatory practices. For instance, some entities or individuals could disguise gasoline as diesel oil to get around regulatory curbs.
According to JT/T 617, diesel oil with flash point above 60 ℃ (not more than 100 ℃) shall be transported as dangerous goods, however, it is exempted from requirements of administrative licensing as Hazchem (e.g., obtaining the safe manufacturing permit, safe operation permit and/or safe use permit).
These circumstances have caused great confusion for law enforcement agencies. The official from MEM noted that the worries in this regard make sense (CL news). In order to make informed policies upon careful consideration, the MEM extensively listened to the suggestions and recommendations from stakeholders. As the notice issued recently, the MEE will regulate diesel oil as hazardous chemical regardless of its flash point.
Suggestions
With less than two months left until 2023, companies handling diesel oil in the Chinese Mainland are advised to fulfill the corresponding obligations in advance to ensure compliance in relevant activities. In addition to Hazchem registration and relevant administrative licensing requirements, companies that manufacture or store any type of diesel oil shall set safety facilities and equipment with warning signs according to its hazard classification and properties. The authorities will heighten supervision. It should be noted that this update of the Inventory does not affect the transportation methods of diesel oil. They should be transported as dangerous goods as before.
