The furor surrounding the release of the revised Catalogue of Hazardous Chemicals has been a constant since the promulgation of the Regulation on the Control over Safety of Hazardous Chemicals (a.k.a Decree 591). Initial speculation predicted an expansion of the original inventory to over double its original size, bringing with it a host of far-reaching implications for the chemical and associated industries (ChemLinked news release).
However in an unexpected policy U-turn, it is now expected that the updated Catalogue will be downsized in accordance with a statement made by NRCC officials in a recent training seminar on "Measures on the Administration on the Hazardous Chemicals Registration" (a.k.a SAWS Order 53). With approximately 3,000 chemicals to be included in the revised Catalogue, there is no final say on whether the current “upgrade” could be viewed as an expansion at all.
Although contrary to previous speculation, downsizing of the Catalogue reflects the new central government’s intention to relieve the companies’ compliance obligations and avoid excessive disruption to the industry. Whilst expansion of the inventory would surely promote the overall management of the hazardous chemicals in China, some ministries remain conservative and reluctant to “pull the trigger” (inclusion of some unconventionally defined hazardous chemicals). Their concern could be well justified by the fact that the chemicals listed in the Catalogue will be faced with a whole series of obligations under the Decree 591, including the license application and maintenance for use, manufacture, operation activities as well as the possible legal entry/exit inspection.
The difficultly in reaching consensus among the various competent authorities involved, has already contributed to the recurring delay on the official release of the catalogue, and indeed continues to remain a factor. Currently, the draft of the revised Catalogue has been established and is being reviewed by the relevant ministries/departments. Before the final release of the official Catalogue, the draft has to go through the public consultation as well as the ultimate evaluation by the expert panel.
No detailed GHS classification information is expected to be included in the Catalogue due to the complexity extent of the work involved. Therefore, the catalogue to be released will no longer do justice to its “nickname”—Chinese C&L Inventory. Nevertheless, a supporting guidance will be published with the reference on the classification of the chemicals in the Catalogue, as promised by the NRCC. According to the authority, the so called “Lowest Classification” and “Incomplete Classification” would be adopted in the supporting classification document.
Lowest Classification: only the lowest applicable hazard classification will be specified for one hazard category of chemicals in the Catalogue; Companies should specify a single hazard class no less than the lowest applicable classification indicated.
Incomplete Classification: The guidance will not list the complete hazard categories of the chemicals; companies should supplement other hazard categories by consulting the data of their own, without changing the hazard category listed in the guidance.
Online Registration System
Due to the increasing complexity of the information to be submitted during registration, an online registration information management system will be launched to aid with the practical registration work. Currently, the system is being tested and debugged and will be officially launched around Apr 20th -25th.
SDS Compilation Guidance
A new guidance with the detailed instruction on the compilation of SDS is currently being formulated. The GB/T 16483-2008 Safety data sheet for chemical products-content and order of sections is considered to be too general for practical use. This standard has been notified as draft in Oct 2012 and is expected to be published end of 2013.
Registration Scope
Even in bonded zone and export processing zone, hazardous chemicals need to get registered as long as the manufacturing and import activities are involved.
For the purpose of full implementation of SAWS Order 53, the NRCC is also considering collaborating with other authorities on supervising the registration of hazardous chemicals, such as CIQ or the General Administration of Customs (GAC).
