China Revises the List of Toxic Chemicals Restricted to Be Imported into or Exported from China.

Original Article, 3 Jan 2014

The Chinese Ministry of Environmental Protection (China MEP) and Chinese Customs have issued a joint notice No. 85 to publish the 2014 version of the List of Toxic Chemicals Restricted to Be Imported into or Exported from China. The new list replaces previous list and is effective immediately from 1st Jan 2014.

Compared to current list which contains 158 chemicals, the new list includes 4 new entries covering primarily perfluorooctanesulfonic acid or perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and their derivatives. Pursuant to MEP's order 22, companies which deal with import and/or export of those 4 types of chemicals will need to register with the Chemical Registration Centre (CRC) of MEP and apply for relevant registration certificates or custom clearance notification prior to import or export.

The updated list can be searched online free of charge through the following link:

http://cciss.cirs-group.com/

The 4 new entries are:

Index

Chemical Product Name

HS Code

94

Perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (POSA), Potassium Perfluorooctanesulfonate, Lithium perfluorooctanesulfonate, Ammonium perfluorooctanesulfonate, Perfluorooctanesulfonyl fluoride

2904909014

114

Diethanolamine perfluorooctanesulfonate

2922120010

115

Heptadecafluorooctanesulfonic acid tetraethylammonium salt(BAYOWET), didecyl dimethyl ammonium perfluorooctanesulfonate

2923900013

156

N-ethylheptadecafluorooctanesulphonamide (SULFLURAMID), N-methylheptadecafluorooctanesulphonamide, N-methyl-N-(2-Hydroxyethyl)perfluorooctanesulfonamide, N-(2-Hydroxyethyl)-N-perfluorooctanesulfonamide

2935009033

 

The other big change is that the HS Codes for 30 chemical products have been updated. Importers are required to use the new HSCodes to make a declaration to customs when those chemical products are imported into China or exported from China.

Please refer to the following table for more details.


Chemical names

China Customs Notice No. 2013-85

China Customs Notice No. 2011-91

Index

New HS Code

HS Code

Index

P-dimethylaminoazobenzene-Azophenyl arsenic acid

125

2931909014

2931900022

122

dimethylarsonic acid

126

2931909014

2931900022

123

DIMETHYLARSINIC ACID SODIUM SALT

127

2931909014

2931900022

124

4-AMINOPHENYLARSONIC ACID SODIUM SALT(sonate)

128 

2931909015

2931900023

125

Diphenylchloroarsine

129 

2931909015

2931900023

126

Anthraquinone-α-arsonic acid

130 

2931909016

2931900024

127

Cyhexatin

131 

2931909016

2931900024

128

Butylstannane trilaurate

132 

2931909016

2931900024

129

Tributyl  tin acetate

133 

2931909016

2931900024

130

Triethyl  tin sulfate

134 

2931909017

2931900025

131

Dibutyltin oxide

135 

2931909017

2931900025

132

Triethyltin acetic acid

136 

2931909017

2931900025

133

tetraethyltin

137 

2931909018

2931900026

134

Trimethyltin acetic acid

138 

2931909018

2931900026

135

Fentin hydroxide

139 

2931909019

2931900027

136

Copper acetoarsenite

140

2931909021

2931900028

137

phenarsazine chloride

141 

2931909021

2931900028

138

Roxarsone

142 

2931909022

2931900029

139

Ethyldichloroarsine

143 

2931909023

2931900035

140

DIPHENYL CHLOROARSINE

144 

2931909023

2931900035

141

METHYLARSONIC ACID

145 

2931909024

2931900036

142

Propylarsonic acid

146 

2931909024

2931900036

143

Phenyldichloroarsine(PDA)

147 

2931909024

2931900036

144

Phenylarsonic  acid

148 

2931909025

2931900037

145

2-Nitrophenylarsonic acid

149

2931909025

2931900037

146

3-Nitrophenylarsonic acid

150 

2931909025

2931900037

147

4-Nitrophenylarsonic acid

151 

2931909026

2931900038

148

2-Aminobenzene arsonic acid

152 

2931909026

2931900038

149

3-Aminobenzene arsonic acid

153

2931909027

2931900039

150

4 -Aminobenzene arsonic acid

154 

2931909027

2931900039

151

CIRS’s Comments

The addition of PFOS onto the list is due to the update of Annex III of Rotterdam Convention. Companies which deal with the import/export of above toxic chemicals need to pay extra attention to the HS Codes of their chemical products. The only criterion to determine whether registration is required for a mixture containing a substance on the list is to look at the HS code of the mixture. In the list, HS codes have also been assigned. If HS code is not listed, then registration is not required for the mixture. Sometimes, it is not so easy to determine the HS code of a complex mixture and different customs may have different manuals to refer to.

Background Info

While the import and export of some toxic chemicals in China are strictly prohibited (prohibited chemicals), some toxic chemicals are restricted, for example, chemicals in the “List of toxic chemicals severely restricted to be imported into or exported from People Republic of China”. The Chinese government released the Provisions on the First Import of Chemicals and the Import and Export of Toxic Chemicals in 1994, which was amended by the notice of Registration of the Import and Export of Toxic Chemicals in China (MEP [2009] 113), which was replaced by MEP's order 22 -The Measures for Environmental Administration Registration of Hazardous Chemicals(2012).

Pursuant to MEP's order 22, companies which deal with import and/or export of those toxic chemicals 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 under MEP's order 22 in the future.

Reference

http://www.mep.gov.cn/gkml/hbb/201312/t20131231_265886.htm

Contact

If you wish to understand how the revised list is going to impact your businesses or submit your comments/questions, please contact us at:

  • CIRS China
    11F Building 1, Dongguan Hi-Tech Park, 288 Qiuyi Road, Binjiang District, Hangzhou 310052, China
    Tel: +86-571 8720 6555 | Fax: +86-571 8720 6533
    Email: service@cirs-reach.com