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The comprehensive management of hazardous chemical substances in Thailand began in 1960s with the publication of Toxic Substances Act of B.E. 2510 (1967). 25 years after that, Thailand government carried out the Hazardous Substances Control Act (HSCA) B.E. 2535 (1992) in order to manage the booming chemical industry. HSCA covered a wider range of hazardous chemicals and raised more requirements on the industry than the Toxic Substances Act, such as notification, registration, application for license, etc.
At present, there are more than 1556 hazardous chemicals listed in the control lists (Annexes) of HSCA. They are regulated by 6 government branches and correspond to different compliance duties based on the hazard type they are designated. The following table shows the detailed information:
Government Branch | Annex | Total Number of Chemicals | Hazard Type | |||
Type 1 | Type 2 | Type 3 | Type 4 | |||
Department of Agriculture | 1.1 (Controlled by name) | 686 | - | 14 | 569 | 103 |
1.2 (Controlled by properties) | 12 | - | 7 | 2 | 3 | |
Department of Fishery | 2.1 (Controlled by name) | 17 | 3 | 1 | 11 | 2 |
2.2 (Controlled by group of chemicals) | 2 | - | - | 1 | 1 | |
2.3 (Controlled by properties) | 2 | - | 2 | - | - | |
Department of Livestock Development | 3.1 (Controlled by name) | 23 | - | - | 23 | - |
3.2 (Controlled by group of chemicals) | 13 | 2 | 3 | 8 | - | |
Food and Drug Administration | 4.1 (Controlled by name) | 225 | 5 | 17 | 93 | 110 |
4.2 (Controlled by group of chemicals) | 28 | 5 | 2 | 12 | 9 | |
4.3 (Controlled by properties) | 6 | - | 5 | - | 1 | |
Department of Industrial Works | 5.1 (Controlled by name) | 496 | 113 | 30 | 278 | 75 |
5.2 (Chemical wastes) | All chemical wastes | - | - | All | - | |
5.3 (Used electrical and electronics appliances) | Used electrical and electronics appliances | - | - | All | - | |
5.4 (Controlled by group of chemicals) | 10 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 3 | |
5.5 (Chemical weapon convention) | 15 | - | - | 6 | 9 | |
5.6 (Controlled by properties) Note: infectious and radioactive substances not included | All | All | - | - | - | |
Department of Energy Business | LPG and NGV | LPG and NGV | - | - | LPG and NGV | - |
The notification of Annex 5.6 was one of the most notable changes in South-East Asian chemical regulations in recent years. The Annex 5.6 notification details the scope of Thailand’s National Chemical Inventory, which is a significant milestone in the development of Thailand’s legal framework on existing and new chemicals management. Although the 1st stage of nomination ended at the end of 2016, Ms. Somsri Suwanjaras from DIW told ChemLinked at ChemCon Asia 2017 that DIW is still receiving applications from enterprises. However, due to limited manpower and technical capacity, DIW is still busy trying to process the data and information they received before 2017 and add these chemicals into the 1st version of the inventory of existing chemicals. This means that chemical substances submitted after Jan 1st 2017 won’t appear in the 1st version of the inventory. Ms. Somsri expected that the 1st version of the inventory would come out later this year.
