Thailand’s overarching hazardous chemical management law, the Hazardous Substance Act of B.E.2535 (1992) is currently under amendment and the first draft of amendment is now open for public consultation. The Department of Industrial Works (DIW) has released on 16 Jul 2013 the comparison table for existing and proposed provisions, draft amendment and the hearing form for opinion submission.
Several key changes are observed from the draft amendment. First, the terms “import” is redefined as “bring or order into the country”, leaving “transit” as a separate condition. Companies engaged in transit of hazardous chemicals are therefore subject to additional obligations which will be further clarified by responsible minster in the future. On top of which, a new category named “Public Interest Organization” is introduced and defined.
Second, the draft amendment proposes the inclusion of representatives of private sector into the Hazardous Substance Committee. Currently, the committee is only consist of hazardous chemical relevant authorities and agencies, as well as members scholars with expertise in the Chemistry, Sciences, Engineering, Agricultural Sciences and Law fields or from the public interest organization.
Third, a new role of the Information Center for Hazardous Substance is proposed as follow:
Become a national and central agency of hazardous chemicals and chemical information
To establish system or database of chemicals and act as a bridge for chemical information communication between authorities
To provide support to members of the Hazardous Substance Committee
To announce chemical relevant information to the public
Fourth, the draft amendment grants the power to the government authority to revoke registration of approved chemicals and the affected manufacturers or importers will have the right to appeal to the Hazardous Substance Committee. Moreover, the authority will also be responsible for managing hazardous substance advertising.
Last but not least, according to the draft amendment, Type 4 hazardous substances might be allowed in Thailand for research and development purpose. In the existing provision, the Type 4 substances are banned in Thailand with completely prohibition in importing, manufacturing or possessing.
Stakeholders or interested parties are welcome to submit comments online or by the hearing form before 16 Aug 2013. You may also leave comments on ChemLinked and we will be happy to deliver the message to the Thailand authority for you. The information required for the comment submission is as follow:
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