October 11, 2011, China State Administration of Work Safety (SAWS) issued the notice for public consultation on the newly revised draft of the Measures on Hazardous Substances Registration (“new Measures” in short). The new Measures are about to take effect on December 1, 2011 when the old Measures (2002 version) will be annulled.
Obligations of Registrant Companies under the New Measures
In the fourth chapter of the new Measures, registrant companies are required to fulfill obligations in four aspects:
(1) Registration: Applying for the registration certificate for the produced or imported hazardous chemicals. The validity of registration certificate is 3 years and has to be renewed 3 months prior to the certificates expiry date;
(2) Data gathering and filing within the company: manufacturers and importers of hazardous chemicals should have a full and comprehensive understanding of the chemicals produced or imported and make prompt updates for them;
(3) Establishing a set of safety control measures for hazardous chemicals tailored to the registrant’s own company;
(4) Fulfilling the company’s social responsibilities for the management of hazardous chemicals, like supplying China GHS-compliant SDS, labels and packages and other hazard data communication.
Application Materials Required for the Registration of Hazardous Chemicals
(1) Information of identification of the registrant company;
(2) Information on the classification and labeling of the hazardous chemicals;
(3) Information on the physical-chemical properties of the hazardous chemicals;
(4) Major uses of the hazardous chemicals;
(5) Hazard classes of the hazardous chemicals;
(6) Conditions of safe storage, use and transport;
(7) Emergency response for hazardous chemical accidents;
Major Revisions in the New Measures:
(1) Incorporation of the requirements contained in the consultation opinions for the old Measures into the new Measures, such as essential qualifications for the registration office, training requirements, emergency telephone requirements for hazardous chemical accidents, etc.
(2) Adjustment of the subjects of the new Measures and the scope of hazardous chemicals to be registered.
Subjects of the new Measures will focus on the manufacturers and importers of hazardous chemicals.
All chemicals listed in the Catalogue of Hazardous Chemicals (2002) shall be registered, while chemicals not listed in the Catalogue but identified as hazardous shall still apply to the new Measures and be registered.
(3) Specifying the criteria of emergency response consulting phone service for the registered companies and registration agencies as well.
The new Measures have set a higher standard for registration agencies, compared with that of the enterprise registrants.
(4) Addition of the requirements for the confirmation, modification, information update, and cancellation of the hazardous chemicals registration certificate.