The revised regulation “Regulation on the Safe Management of Dangerous Chemicals” (Decree No. 591) was officially published on 11 March 2011. When the regulation is implemented on 1st December 2011 it will affect both Chinese and non-Chinese companies dealing with hazardous chemicals in China.
Article 4 of the current version of the ‘’ Regulations on the Safe Management of Dangerous Chemicals ‘’(Decree No. 344) requires all companies that manufacture, handle, store, transport or use hazardous chemicals in China to comply with all relevant regulations and national standard requirements. All companies placing hazardous chemicals on the Chinese market are required to provide label and safety data sheets (SDS) in line with China GHS national standards for the chemicals.
At present, there are two primary GHS national standards prescribing the preparation of SDS and labeling in China
1) GB 15258-2009 “General rules for preparation of precautionary label for chemicals”.
2) GB/T 16483-2008 “Safety data sheet for chemical products – Content and order of sections”
The labeling standard (GB 15258-2009) was published in 2009 and came into effect on 1st of May 2010. It was given a one year transitional period before being implemented in 2011. Therefore, by 1st of May 2011 hazardous substances and mixtures marketed in China are required to be classified according to the 26 national GHS classification standards referred to in the standard and the labeling for hazardous goods should be updated according to the requirements of the standard.
The NRCC (National registration Center for Chemicals) of the State Administration of Work Safety (SAWS), the principal agency in charge of China GHS implementation, also stressed that the 1st of May 2011 was the deadline for updating SDS and labeling in line with China GHS criteria.
The standards (GB/T 16483-2008 and GB 15258-2009) themselves do not specify penalties for non-compliance. However, when Decree No. 591 is implemented, the penalty for companies not providing GHS labeling and safety data sheets can be as high as 50,000 CNY (Art 78.3 ). Moreover, if it refuses to make correction, this penalty will be increased to 100,000 CNY, even more serious with an order to cease business operations possible.
