On Mar 13th, 2018, the reform plan of the Chinese governmental branches under the State Council was submitted to the 1st conference of the 13th National People’s Congress. According to the reform plan, 8 governmental branches at the ministry level and 7 governmental branches at the vice-ministry level will be eliminated. The restructured State Council will consist of 26 branches at the ministry level.
The very change that drew the most attention from the chemical industry was that the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) would be disbanded. A new ministry would be established, called the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE). MEE will be responsible for the development and implementation of China’s ecological environmental policies, as well as the ecological environment monitor and pollution control. At present, a lot of chemical compliance work is overseen by MEP, including the notification of new chemicals in China. The practical details of how the MEE will oversee chemical compliance has yet to be clarified. ChemLinked would keep our readers posted as soon as there’s anything new.
Some other new ministries and departments will also be established, including:
The Ministry of Emergency Management (MEM) would be established and the current State Administration of Work Safety (SAWS) would be dismantled. The MEM would be responsible for the emergency management policies and workplace safety. Theoretically speaking, the registration of hazardous chemicals would be under the management of MEM.
The Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) would be established and replace the current Ministry of Land and Resources, the State Oceanic Administration, and the National Administration of Surveying, Mapping, and Geoinformation.
The State Market Regulatory Administration (SMRA) would be established. Responsibilities of the administration include the comprehensive market supervision and management, market entity registration, and market order maintenance. The administration would incorporate the functions of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ), and the China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA).
There was also talk about the establishment of a new Ministry of Energy which would replace the Department of Energy under the National Development and Reform Commission. However, the reform plan didn’t include such a proposal.
