Dangerous Goods Shipping in Yangtze River Basin: How to Deal with the Recent Ingredients Disclosure Requirements by Maritime Safety Administration

On February 8, 2022, the Shanghai Maritime Safety Administration of the People’s Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as ‘Shanghai MSA’) issued a notice to clarify the full ingredients disclosure issues on dangerous goods that shipped through the Waigaoqiao Area of Shanghai Port.

As per Article 51-2 of Yangtze River Protection Law of People’s Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as ‘Law’), which took effect on March 1, 2021 (CL news), the transportation of highly toxic chemicals, as well as the transportation of other hazardous chemicals forbidden to be transported by inland waterways, is prohibited in the Yangtze River Basin. The Shanghai Port is China’s largest seaport and an inland port of China’s longest river, the Yangtze River. Waigaoqiao is an important part of Shanghai Port. In the past few months, ChemLinked learnt that many shippers have been required to disclose 100% component information on the Safety Data Sheet (SDS) to determine if the DG cargoes are prohibited to ship in the Yangtze River Basin, which has caused a lot of confusion and controversies as full disclosure on SDS is not mandatory according to China GHS and obviously it may divulge trade secrets. In this regard, the Shanghai MSA issued the foregoing notice. Details are summarized as below as well as our experts’ comments.

Item 1. According to the relevant requirements in Article 2 of the Guidance of the Implementation of China Inventory of Hazardous Chemicals (2015) (Trail), CAS number is the sole criterion for determining whether dangerous goods are within the scope of goods prohibited in the Yangtze River Basin.

ChemLinked comments: The prohibited goods refer to the ‘highly toxic chemicals’ and ‘other hazardous chemicals which are prohibited from inland waterway transport by the State’. ‘Highly toxic chemicals” refer to chemicals which are marked as “highly toxic” in the remarks column of the China Inventory of Hazardous Chemicals (2015); and ‘other hazardous chemicals which are prohibited from inland waterway transport by the State’ refer to chemicals included in the List of Hazardous Chemicals Prohibited from Inland Waterway Transport (2019) (hereinafter referred to as ‘List 2019’). If a substance is classified as ‘highly toxic’, or it is listed in the List 2019, it is within the scope of prohibited goods. If a substance is in the scope of prohibited goods, but its UN number is inconsistent with that in the foregoing two inventories, its CAS number shall prevail to determine whether it’s in the scope of prohibited goods or not.

Item 2. For DG cargoes intended to be imported, exported, transited or transferred through the Waigaoqiao Port Area, if they are mixtures, it is recommended to disclose full (100%) ingredients information on SDS, including ingredient name, proportion and CAS number. etc. when filling the shipment declaration.

ChemLinked comments: Shippers may be required to provide a statement issued by the identification agency that the goods do not fall under the scope of prohibited goods if the ingredients information is not disclosed on SDS.

Item 3. For mixtures with 100% ingredients disclosure on the SDS, and of which there is no prohibited substances, they can be imported, exported, transited and transferred through Waigaoqiao Port Area as non-embargoed cargo.

ChemLinked comments: In practice, the dangerous goods are regarded as embargoed goods if the SDS indicates Acute toxicity, Category 1, even if all ingredients are not prohibited substances.

Item 4. For mixtures with SDS that not disclosing 100% ingredients, or for mixtures with 100% ingredients disclosure on SDS but of which there are prohibited substances, the SDS needs to include three indicators: ‘Health Hazards-Acute toxicity’, ‘Environmental Hazards-Acute Aquatic Toxicity’ and ‘Environmental Hazards-Chronic Aquatic Toxicity’. If any of the three indicators falls into Category 1, the DG cargo is not allowed to be imported, exported, transited or transferred through the Waigaoqiao Port Area.

Below is a case to facilitate your understanding. 

SDS discloses full ingredients:

*If the SDS discloses full ingredients and all the ingredients are not prohibited substances, the mixture can be imported, exported, transited or transferred through the Waigaoqiao Port Area as non-embargoed goods. It applies to the foregoing Item 3.

SDS does not disclose full ingredients:  

*If the SDS does not disclose the full ingredients, according to the hazard classification (possessing Aquatic Acute Cat. 1 and Aquatic Chronic Cat.1), the mixture will be classified into the scope of prohibited goods and is not allowed to be imported, exported, transited or transferred through the Waigaoqiao Port Area. It applies to the foregoing Item 4.

It should be noted that the notice issued by Shanghai MSA is only for Waihaoqiao Port Area, not involving other ports in Shanghai. ChemLinked will keep a close eye on it and see if other ports in China will follow the requirements.

For case analysis, please read this: Case Analysis: Ingredients Disclosure Requirements on Dangerous Goods Shipping in Yangtze River Basin