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The Measures for Environmental Administration Registration of Hazardous Chemicals(2012)

Updated in April 2014

17 Oct 2012, The Chinese Ministry of Environmental Protection has released the trial Measures (MEP’s order No. 22) for Environmental Administration Registration of Hazardous Chemicals. This new measures will enter into force on 1st March 2013.  This regulation is also one of the supporting measures of Regulations on Safe Management of Hazardous Chemicals (Decree 591) in China.

What is New?

10 April 2014, The Chinese Ministry of Environment Protection has issued the official Catalog of Priority Hazardous Chemicals (PHCs) for Environment Management. The catalog includes 84 hazardous chemical substances. The substances are subject to registration, risk assessment and PRTR report. More info can be found here. 

23 July 2013, The Chinese Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) has published a pollutant release and transfer report (PRTR) form for priority hazardous chemicals for environmental management (PHCs) on its website. According to MEP’s order 22, companies who manufacture PHCs or who use PHCs to manufacture products shall not only fulfill registration obligations but also are required to submit this PRTR form to environmental protection authorities before 31st Jan of each calendar year. To download the PRTR form, please click here.

There are two requirements in the new measures:

1. Manufacturers of hazardous chemicals and companies who use hazardous chemicals to manufacture products shall submit an environmental administration registration to environmental protection authorities. Only chemicals listed in the Catalog of Hazardous Chemicals will be affected. Those hazardous chemicals will be further classified into two categories: general hazardous chemicals and priority hazardous chemicals for environmental management (PHCs). There are more stringent requirements for the registration of PHCs(i.e. PRTR report).
2. Companies which deal with import and/or export of chemicals on the “List of toxic chemicals severely restricted to be imported into or exported from the People Republic of China” need to register with the Chemical Registration Centre (CRC) of MEP and apply for relevant registration certificates or custom clearance notification. The list will be renamed as the list of hazardous chemicals severely restricted to be imported into or exported from China in the future.

 

The first requirement is new. The second requirement is not new and it has already been implemented in China through the Registration of the Import and Export of Toxic Chemicals in China (MEP Notice [2009] 113). More info about MEP notice [2009]113 can be found here.  

New!

22 April 2013, You can search if your substance is listed in the Catalog of Hazardous Chemicals, the List of toxic chemicals severely restricted to be imported into or exported from the People Republic of China or the list of PHCs by using CIRS's free Chinese Chemical Inventory Search System (CCISS) now.

• http://cciss.cirs-group.com/

In this article we will mainly focus on the first requirement and its implications.

Registration of General Hazardous Chemicals and PHCs

For general hazardous chemicals, manufacturers and companies who use hazardous chemicals to manufacture products in China shall submit an environmental administration registration to local environmental protection authorities at county level and obtain a registration certificate issued by environmental protection authorities at city level(article 6), which is then valid for 3 years. The registration needs to be submitted prior to the issue of acceptance statement for newly built or enlarged project.

The following documents are required for registration (article 9):

• Environment administration registration form including legal entity information, the names of hazardous chemicals, volume, uses, operational method, safety data sheet, environmental risk management measures, transfer of waste and disposal of hazardous waste;
• Result of environmental impact assessment;
• Environment emergency response plans;
• Environment monitoring report.

 

For PHCs, companies shall entrust qualified institutions to prepare an environmental risk assessment report and submit this report to authorities in addition to above required materials when applying for a registration certificate (article 10).  The registration certificate for PHCs will be issued by environmental protection authorities at provincial level.

Companies who have manufactured hazardous chemicals or have used hazardous chemicals to manufacture products before the new measures enter into force must submit environmental administration registration within 3 years since the date of entry into force.

NEW!

1st April 2013, China MEP Publishes Supporting Documents for Environmental Administration Registration of Hazardous Chemicals. More info can be found here.

Priority Hazardous Chemicals for Environmental Management (PHCs)

The list of priority hazardous chemicals for environmental management will be promulgated and updated by MEP (Article 11). Even though the new measures have not specified which chemicals might be added to the list of PHCs, chemicals meeting either one of the following criteria may be added to the list according to the draft measures published last year.

• chemicals that are not easily degradable, bio-accumulative and can cause serious harm to human health and living beings after long-term exposure;
• chemicals that are extremely un-degradable and extremely bio-accumulative;
• chemicals that can cause acute toxicity or chronic toxicity to aquatic environment;
• chemicals that can serious hazards to human health or the environment;
• chemicals subject to any international environment conventions;
• chemicals liable to accidents and causing severe hazards to the ecological environment;
• other chemicals for which risks need to be reduced;

 

For PHCs, in addition to registration, companies who have manufactured PHCs or have used PHCs to manufacture products shall submit pollutant release & transfer register(PRTR) form and environmental risk management plans to environmental protection authorities at county level before 31st Jan of each calendar year; Those companies shall carry out environment monitoring of hazardous chemicals and waste;

The PHCs can be accessed here.

Other Important Requirements

In addition to environmental administration registration, companies have obtained registration certificates need to fulfill the following obligations:

• Publish annual hazardous chemical environmental administration report including the names of hazardous chemicals, hazard properties, waste & accident information and disposal measures for waste, and make this report available to the public;
• Keep a file regarding hazardous chemicals manufactured or used such as type, volume, flow, waste discharge and environmental monitoring information on a long-term basis;

Legal Liabilities

Companies who fail to submit environmental administration registration and comply with other requirements will be fined up to RMB 30,000.

Reference

http://www.mep.gov.cn/gkml/hbb/bl/201210/t20121016_238481.htm

More reading

• Regulations on Safe Management of Hazardous Chemicals(Decree 591);
• Registration of the Import and Export of Toxic Chemicals in China (MEP Notice [2009] 113);
• SAWS's Order 53 - The measures for the administration of registration of hazardous chemicals