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On April 11, 2023, the Philippines’ Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) released a report evaluating the current policies of chemical management.
The objectives of the report is to review existing policies and identify issues or difficulties within the system. In addition, it will develop a basic template for Regulatory Impact Analysis (RIA) to aid the Chemical Management Section (CMS) in the policy development.
The following policies and regulations were reviewed and assessed:
RA 6969 Policies
Philippine Inventory of Chemicals and Chemical Substances (PICCS) Policies
Priority Chemical List (PCL) Policies
Chemical Control Oder (CCO) Policies
Pre-Manufacture Pre-Importation Notification (PMPIN) Policies
Globally Harmonized System (GHS) of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals Policies
Multilateral Environmental Agreements
Joint Administrative Order
Other DENR Laws and Policies
From January to June 2022, a focus group discussion (FGD) was organized to synthesize inputs of stakeholders from the local industry, foreign suppliers and EMB regulators regarding the implementation of the policies. Several issues and concerns were raised and discussed by the stakeholders. The highlights of recommendation from FDGs are summarized below:
To establish a decision tool to check if the chemical is compliant to R.A.6969
To allow for Small Quantity Importation (SQI) renewal without limitation
To have a simplified process allowing the original notifier who was issued approved PMPIN certificate to extend the PMPIN certificate to other importing companies.
Both chemical hazard and exposure should be used in prioritizing what chemicals are added into the PCL.
Prioritize the post assessment monitoring team to ensure that companies handling CCO are managing the chemicals accordingly.
Adopt cut-off values and concentration limits for each health and environment hazard class and building blocks approach aligned with the European Union and other Asia Pacific countries.
Provide for POPs phase-out period and mechanism under Annex 3 of Rotterdam Convention.
Next, the report will be submitted to the CMS for initial review. Policy changes or revisions will be done based on the RIA alignment of the project.
