Implementation progress of Measures on Physical Hazard Identification and Classification for Chemicals (China SAWS Order 60) was revealed at a national work conference held by NRCC-SAWS in mid-November, 2013.
■ An upcoming catalogue of chemicals exempted from mandatory PHI&C
NRCC, SAWS has finished formulating the Catalogue of Substances Exempted from Physical Hazards Identification and Classification, though is not yet ready to publish it. SAWS will take full charge of its final issuance and future adjustments, thus avoiding intraministerial conflicts which were a major source of problems in compiling the Inventory of hazardous chemicals.
Generally speaking, the catalogue consists of substances of which sufficient knowledge on the hazardous properties have been obtained. The two broad classification criteria are :
Substances with identified physical hazards but not included in the Inventory of hazardous chemicals – They require registration certificates, proper SDSs and safety labels.
Substances with no physical hazards identified – They do not require registration certificates.
■ Templates of three application forms and two reports
Templates of materials necessary to be submitted will soon be published on SAWS’s official website for open consultation, including:
Application form of identification (from companies to testing institutes)
Application form of arbitration on identification (from companies to technical committee)
Application form of arbitration on classification (from companies to technical committee)
Identification report (Compiled and issued by testing institutes)
Classification report (Compiled by companies and reviewed by NRCC, SAWS)
■ National standards GB 30000.XX-2013
Physical hazard identification of chemicals is primarily ascertained by investigation using 16 discrete physical hazard testing criteria. Companies should classify the tested chemical in accordance with GB 30000.2~GB 30000.17 based on the identification report. The GB 30000 series will be available for purchase in a month. (Need a reminder or translation service? Please contact us at jane@chemlinked.com)
GB 30000.XX-2013 series include safety rules for classification and labeling for chemicals of 28 GHS hazard classifications in alignment with the UN GHS 4th revised edition. These compulsory standards will come into force on Nov 1st, 2014, indicating China's significant movement to adopt the 4th revised edition of UN GHS. (See Chemlinked news release)
■ Requirements of accredited testing institutes
The detailed requirements on accredited testing institutes for physical hazards identification have gone through two rounds of discussion. Once internal agreement is reached, an official announcement will be published on the SAWS’s website. Now, there are few institutes qualified to carry out the whole series of tests. It will be a long time before there are enough authorized testing institutes, and companies may have to deliver samples to different institures to accomplish all 16 major testing items.
■ Joint Identification:
To ease the burden on industry SAWS allows formation of “SIEF- like” entities whereby multiple enterprises can collaborate to assess a single substance and share costs. According to SAWS officials there won’t be a limit on the number of companies who apply for joint identification of a chemical. Companies decide a consortium representative or leading applicant and provide a testing sample based on their own agreement. Companies violating the rule of this agreement will be subject to a maximum fine of 30,000 RMB. The management of these consortiums will be largely administrated by industry with government departments overseeing the process.
For more information please contact jane@chemlinked.com.
