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India’s chemical industry is thriving driven by escalating demand and favorable government policies, positioning it as the sixth-largest chemical producer globally and the third in Asia. However, despite this rapid expansion, safety and environmental issues have plagued chemical companies extensively.
Speaking at ChemCon Europe on October 26, 2023, Mr. Kumaresh C Misra, the director of India Chemical Council, highlighted that although there are about 19 Acts and 16 Rules related to chemicals in India, they mostly pertain to pollution control, disaster management, hazardous substances and waste management. To bridge the regulatory gaps, the government is ambitiously working on expanding its current regulatory framework through drawing up its landmark Chemicals (Management and Safety) Rules, commonly known as “India REACH”, as an umbrella Act for management of chemicals in India.
The latest disseminated version of India REACH is the fifth draft, which sets requirements regarding notification, registration, restriction and prohibition, labelling and packaging requirements of chemicals, as well as extended requirements for hazardous chemicals in terms of storage, transport, emergency response, safety audit, etc. However, this draft version has faced criticism and debate within the industry, promoting the government to consider industry feedbacks during the development of its sixth draft.
Currently, the biggest challenge faced is that the fifth draft combines everything into one regulation which is quite complex, while at the same time, key part like GHS is missing except for a simple reference to UN GHS Rev.8. In addition, the complex configuration in administrative structure and the associated administrative fee obviously require improvement to facilitate practical implementation.
Implementing a burdensome REACH-like regulation in India presents significant challenges. Mr. Misra emphasized that India has a larger number of small companies compared to Europe, and the government aims to strike a balance between effective chemical management and supporting the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Although India REACH is still in its draft stage and may be shelved for some years to come, the government offers a hopeful signal that it has initiated the development of a national inventory. Chemical information will be accessible through a web portal called ChemIndia. Mr. Misra said the government is currently asking companies to fill in their chemical information, e.g., chemical name, CAS number, IUPAC name, etc. and maybe it will be finished next year.
Regarding the finalization of India REACH, Mr. Misra said we will wait and see what’s to come after the big election next year when there is a stable environment that would allow the government to focus more on chemical management. That’s because heading into a major election next year, the national parliament hardly functions, sitting for fewer days and working fewer hours than in years. This period offers an opportune time to gather industry feedback.
Mr. Misra encourages the industry to provide additional comments to enhance the practicality and ease of compliance with India REACH, thereby influencing policy decisions on chemical management.
* ChemLinked welcomes enterprises to talk with us about their opinions and concerns about India REACH. We would like to pass the feedback to the drafting committee as a bridge between the industry and the authorities.
