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Chinese Mainland
China Legislates on Dust Explosion Protection for Industry and Trade Enterprises (Aug 5th, 2021)
On August 2nd, 2021, the China Ministry of Emergency Management (MEM) issued its Order No.6 to publish the Safety Regulations on Dust Explosion Protection for Industry and Trade Enterprises. The Regulations are formulated in accordance with the newly issued Work Safety Law and will enter into effect on September 1st, 2021, simultaneously with the Law. The Regulations consist of five chapters: General Provisions; Guarantee of Safe Production; Supervision and Inspection; Legal Responsibilities; Supplementary Provisions. (CL news)
Shenzhen Customs Answers Questions Regarding Inspection on Imported and Exported Hazardous Chemicals and Their Packaging(Aug 5th, 2021)
On December 21st, 2020, the General Administration of Customs of China (GAC) issued the Announcement on Questions Regarding the Inspection on Imported and Exported Hazardous Chemicals and Their Packaging (GACC Announcement No. 129 of 2020), which took effect on January 10th, 2021 (ChemLinked news). Given many problems encountered by stakeholders during the implementation in practice, Shenzhen customs published fifteen frequently asked questions. (CL news)
China MEE Proposes Solutions to Current Prominent Problems in VOCs Governance ( Updated on Aug 6th)(Aug 6th, 2021)
On August 4th, 2021, MEE officially published the final version of the Notice on Accelerating the Resolution of Current Prominent Problems in the Governance of Volatile Organic Compounds , in which the review of key tasks and rectification is required to complete before the end of this September, and the first round of self-investigation on the 10 current outstanding emission problems is required to complete before the end of this October. (CL news)
China MIIT Consults on over 300 National and Industry Standards (Aug 12th, 2021)
On July 20th, 2021, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the People's Republic of China issued a Notice consulting on over 300 national and industry standards. The relevant standardization technical organization has completed the compilation or revision of 290 industry standards and 6 national standards. In addition, 10 industry standards were translated into English. These standards are publicized before release for public comments, and the deadline is August 20th, 2021. (CL news)
China Receives RoHS2 Conformity Assessments for 18,420 Products (August 13th, 2021)
As of the end of July 2021, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) had received 12,369 conformity assessments on its RoHS public service platform from 1,140 companies, involving 18,420 products. The China RoHS public service platform was constructed by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the General Administration of Market Supervision and Administration, and it was officially launched in December 2019. Twelve categories of products, including refrigerators, washing machines, and televisions, which are shipped and imported after November 1st, 2019, must carry out RoHS conformity assessment, and submit the results to the platform. (Read more)
Shanghai Steps up New Chemicals On-site Inspections (Aug 18th, 2021)
Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Ecology and Environment announced to start the new chemical inspection for enterprises manufacture, use or import chemical substances under its purview in September. For businesses, including domestic manufacturers, importers and representative agents that have registered new chemical substances, the focus will be placed on new chemical substances registered for (1) regular notification in 2020, (2) regular notification of hazardous chemical substances or hazardous chemical substances of priority environmental concern over the past five years (2016-2019), and (3) simplified notification (mainly for those imported for use or trade) in 2020. (CL news)
China MEE to Revise List of Controlled Ozone Depleting Substances (Aug 19th, 2021)
According to the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (hereinafter referred to as the Kigali Amendment), the Chinese Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) drafted the amendments to the List of Controlled Ozone Depleting Substances in China for public consultation on August 16th, 2021. The deadline for comments is August 20th, 2021. (CL news)
China MEE Adds 15 Substances into IECSC (Aug 23rd, 2021)
On August 18th, 2021, the Chinese Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) published a notice, announcing the addition of 15 substances into the Inventory of Existing Chemical Substances (IECSC). These substances were previously registered under the Measures on Environmental Management of New Chemical Substances (MEP Order No. 7 of 2010) and qualified for listing into the IECSC as existing chemical substances in China. (CL news)
Shanghai Consults on Use Safety Management Guidelines of Hazardous Chemicals in Industrial and Trade Enterprises (Aug 23rd, 2021)
On August 23, 2021, Shanghai Emergency Management Bureau issued a notice to seek public feedback on the draft Guidelines for the Use Safety Management of Hazardous Chemicals in Industrial and Trade Enterprises in Shanghai (Trial). The consultation will end on October 10, 2021. Shanghai’s Guidelines apply to enterprises in metallurgy, non-ferrous metals, building materials, machinery, light industry, textiles, tobacco, and trade and commerce sectors, etc., which are involved in the use of hazardous chemicals. (CL news)
China Consults on 11 New Varieties of Food-related Products (Aug 24th, 2021)
On August 20th, China National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment (CFSA) opened 11 new varieties of food-related products to public feedback, including five new FCM additive varieties, four FCM additives with expanded application scope, and two new resins. Any comment shall be sent back to CFSA prior to September 10th, 2021.
Nanjing Released 2021 VOC Product Quality Supervision and Sampling Implementation Rules (Aug 25th, 2021)
Nanjing Market Supervision Administration will organize a VOC product (cleaning agents) quality supervision and sampling in the following months. The implementation rules were made public on August 10th, 2021. The implementation rules specify the sampling methods, inspection basis, determination principles, objection handling and re-inspection. The deadline for sampling is October 30th, 2021, and the deadline for inspection is December 1st, 2021. The sampling quality analysis report shall be completed by December 10th, 2021. (CL news)
Taiwan, China
Taiwan Regulates Ammonium Nitrate and Hydrogen Fluoride as Concerned Chemicals (Aug 23rd, 2021)
On August 20th, 2021, Taiwan’s Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) listed ammonium nitrate and hydrogen fluoride as concerned chemicals. The handlers shall obtain approval for their manufacture, import, sale, use, storage, etc. and report monthly online for their handlings. Meanwhile, the online sale is prohibited. The accident prevention and emergency response regulations shall be followed. In addition, the commercially available HFCS products must be labelled to prevent accidents caused by improper use. (CL news)
Taiwan EPA Imposes up to 10 Times Fines on Illegal Trafficking of Listed Toxic and Concerned Chemical Substances (August 31st, 2021)
Considering the potential adverse effects brought by misuse (abuse) of listed toxic and concerned chemical substances such as nitrous oxide (laughing gas), the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) revised and released the Guidelines of the Criteria of Fines for Violating the Toxic and Concerned Chemical Substances Control Act on August 31st, 2021. If the responsible party causes death or endangers the health of other person, life imprisonment or at least 7 years of imprisonment can be imposed with a fine of NT$ 10 million at most. In addition, the competent authorities may impose a fine of 3 to 10 times on the illegal trafficking of listed toxic and concerned chemical substances, up to NT$ 300,000. (Read more)
South Korea
Korea MoE Issues Amendments to Stipulated Quantities for Toxic, Restricted, Prohibited and Authorized Substances(Aug 3rd, 2021)
On July 5th, 2021, South Korea’s Ministry of Environment (MoE) announced the updates to the Regulations on the Stipulated Quantities for Toxic Substances, Restricted Substances, Prohibited Substances and Substances Subject to Authorization by MoE Announcement No.2021-134, which came into effect immediately. The updates include: Updating the details of three toxic chemical substances (Given No. 97-1-9, 97-1-423, and 2017-1-762) that were previously designated; Adding 48 substances (Given No.2021-1-1009~2021-1-1056) with upper and lower handling limits, which were designated as toxic chemical substances after hazard evaluation under K-REACH in February and June this year (ChemLinked news). (CL news)
Japan
Japan MHLW Consults on Health Hazard Prevention Measures for 236 Substances (Aug 20th, 2021)
Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare (MHLW) has listened to the views and feedback from stakeholders on the Implementation of Health Hazard Prevention Measures for 236 Substances Including 2-(dimethylamino)ethyl acrylate from 10:00 to 12:00 on August 30. Those who cannot participate on site can join online via Skype or Teams. The deadline for submitting comments was 12:00 on August 27th. (CL news)
Japan Announces 206 New Chemicals under CSCL (Aug 26th, 2021)
On July 30th, 2021, the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW), Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and Ministry of the Environment (MOE) jointly gazette a total of 206 new chemical substances (No. 932-No. 1137) under the Chemical Substance Control Law (CSCL). Since the publication of the gazette, these substances will be considered as Newly Announced Chemical Substances (notified on and after April 1, 2011) and regulated as existing chemicals under the framework of CSCL. (CL news)
New Zealand
New Zealand EPA bans ship hold fumigation as part of methyl bromide rules reset (August 18th, 2021)
A Decision-making Committee of the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) imposed a total ban on methyl bromide fumigation aboard ships. Ship hold fumigation will be banned from January 1st, 2023. And from January 1st, 2022, there will be stepped increases of the recapture of methyl bromide from containers and covered log stacks. These measures will result in methyl bromide emissions being reduced significantly over the next five years. (Read more)
India
India is consulting on Draft Standard for Toluene Diisocyanate Mixture (August 2nd, 2021)
On August 2nd, 2021, the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) published a draft standard prescribing the requirements and the methods of sampling and test for toluene diisocyanate (TDI-80), which is mixture of 80 percent 2,4-toluene diisocyanate and 20 percent 2,6- toluene diisocyanate. The standard cover Type I (for low acidity) of toluene diisocyanate (TDI-80). The deadline for comments is September 1st. (Read more)
