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On October 12, 2022, Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) released a proposal to revise the Law on Chemicals (06/2007/QH12)*. The draft revision is expected to be finalized and submitted for comments at the 8th Session of the 15th National Assembly in October, 2024 and approved at the 9th session in May, 2025.
*The Law on Chemicals (06/2007/QH12) is the overarching chemical regulation in Vietnam, which was issued in November of 2007 and took effect in 2008. It stipulates provisions on management of production, trading, import and export, use and disposal of chemicals, safety in chemical handling, chemical information transfer, etc. |
The proposal came as the Law on Chemicals has gradually lost its harmony and consistency in the entire regulation system after 14 years’ implementation. Last year in April, MOIT published a questionnaire to investigate the implementation of the law. Opinions collected from stakeholders have been taken into concern. Highlights of the draft proposal are summarized as below:
Main Objectives
Improve practicality and feasibility of the law
Ensure the consistency between this law and other treaties or conventions Vietnam has joined
Improve the effectiveness and efficiency of national chemical management
Develop an integrated legal document system for chemical management
Harmonize the Law on Chemicals with regulations in other countries to attract foreign investors and technology-intensive corporations in the chemical field to expand business in Vietnam
Major Amendments
1. Definitions and application scope of the Law
a) Add explanations to distinguish products containing chemicals with chemicals
b) Define by-products and intermediates to distinct from waste
2. Sustainable development of the chemical industry as a fundamental and modern industry
a) Introduce regulations on the development of chemical industry
b) Clarify the scope of “chemical projects”, including concentrated chemical industrial projects, chemical logistics center projects, the production of basic chemicals, pharmaceutical chemicals, petrochemicals, rubber products, paints and printing ink, fertilizers, cleaning agent, etc
c) Develop regulations to encourage investors to use modern, environmentally friendly technologies and apply measures to implement green chemistry criteria
d) Introduce regulations on chemical project management
e) Amend regulations so that chemical accident prevention and response plans are reviewed and approved within a period appropriate for chemical projects
3. Consistent chemical management throughout the life cycle
a) Develop technical guidelines on chemical risk assessment
b) Determine whether to create a specified chemical list or group chemicals for management based on the hazard classification results
c) Synchronize chemical information from central to local levels on the National Chemical Database; develop monitoring and risk assessment schemes
d) Clarify responsibilities for chemical state management within ministries in accordance with regulations and practical conditions
4. Management of chemicals contained in products
a) Develop national technical regulations on the content of hazardous chemicals in consumer and industrial products
b) Develop technical guidelines for product risk assessment
c) Introduce requirements for businesses and individuals importing or manufacturing chemical products to provide information to users
5. Chemical safety assurance
a) Clarify the responsibilities of government agencies in promulgating national technical regulations in the field of chemicals
b) Institutionalize chemical safety training, specify requirements for trainers and establish a monitoring system supervised by the state management agency
c) Introduce regulations to publish and update chemical incident prevention measures on the National Chemical Database
d) Legislate and unify regulations on the chemical emergency prevention and response plans at the provincial levels
6. Regulation on chemical information
a) Synchronize and share data between the National Single Window system and the National Chemical Database
b) Develop and upgrade the National Chemical Database to ensure safety and security
c) Establish a unified reporting system of businesses and local authorities through the National Chemical Database
Once the revised law was promulgated, the government will issue legal documents detailing and guiding the implementation of the law. ChemLinked will keep a close eye and update the latest information.
