Emergency response articles
Image from AFP
China: Beijing and Shanghai launch inspections of hazardous chemical companies after fire at Shanghai ethylene glycol plant
Jordan: Dockworkers flee for their lives after toxic chemical explosion at port
Bangladesh: At Least 35 Killed, 450 Injured Following Fire, Explosions at Chemical Depot
New Zealand: Auckland firefighters left in shock after specialist fire truck found to be unusable
Nigeria: 201 residents land in hospitals after inhaling chemicals in Kano
Regulatory Update
Australia
Australia to Categorize and Schedule Industrial Chemicals as per Environmental Risks 08 Apr 2022 All Australian jurisdictions are working to adopt and implement IChEMS into their own regulatory frameworks from late 2022...
Inventory Update: Australia Adds 8 Chemicals into Australian Inventory of Industrial Chemicals 13 Apr 2022 8 chemicals were added to the Australia Inventory of Industrial Chemicals in accordance with Industrial Chemical Act 2019...
Australia Updates Guide on Categorization of Chemicals at the Nanoscale 14 Apr 2022 Australia released the Version 1.4 of the Categorization Guide, making changes to some steps to help importers and manufacturers work out if their introductions are “certain chemicals at the nanoscale”...
Australia Consults on Removing A Wrongly Listed Chemical from AIIC 18 Apr 2022 The Australian Government intends to remove a chemical (CAS No. 1428963-39-6) from AIIC, and to add the correct one (CAS No. 1431957-88-8)... Australia Consults on 27 Draft Evaluation Statements Covering 157 Industrial Chemicals 27 Apr 2022 On April 22, 2022, the Australian Government published a notice to seek public comments on 27 draft evaluation statements, covering 157 industrial chemicals... Australia Modifies Information Requirements of A Chemical Listed on AIIC 06 May 2022 On May 4, 2022, the Australian Government published a notice to announce the variation of specific information requirements of 1H-1,4,7-triazonine, octahydro-1,4,7-trimethyl- (CAS No. 96556-05-7) according to Section 93 of the Industrial Chemicals Act 2019...
Inventory Update: Australia Adds 6 Chemicals into Australian Inventory of Industrial Chemicals 13 May 2022 According to Section 82 of the Industrial Chemical Act 20192, these 6 chemicals were added into AIIC because 5 years have passed since the assessment certificates were issued...
Inventory Update: Australia Adds One Chemical into Australia Inventory of Industrial Chemicals 20 May 2022 This assessed chemical has been added into AIIC in accordance with Section 83 of the Industrial Chemical Act 20192. Its assessment certificate does not include a condition on the period for which the industrial chemical is permitted to be introduced...
Australia Publishes 9 Completed Evaluations Covering 1,415 Industrial Chemicals (Updated on May 31) 31 May 2022 On May 30, 2022, the Australia Government announced the publication of 9 completed evaluations. Compared with the draft versions, there are some changes in the completed versions...
A New Round of Revision to Australian Dangerous Goods Code is Coming 16 Jun 2022 Edition 7.7 of the Australian Code for the Transport of Dangerous Goods by Road & Rail (a.k.a. ADG Code) is expected to be revised in late 2023...
China
China Consults on RoHS Related Standard on Determination of Seven Phthalates 31 Mar 2022 On March 3, 2022, the China Electronics Standardization Institute issued the RoHS-related standard “Determination of Seven Phthalates in Electrical and Electronic Products: High Performance Liquid Chromatography (Draft)” to publicly solicit comments...
China to Release the Safety and Technical Standard for Cosmetics 2022 (STSC 2022) 02 Apr 2022 China National Institutes for Food and Drug Control is inviting public submissions regarding the draft of the Safety and Technical Standard for Cosmetics 2022 (STSC 2022)...
China to Revise GB 21027-2020 for Stationery Products 07 Apr 2022 China MIIT is consulting on the draft amendments of GB 21027-2020 Request in Common Use of Security for Student's Articles...
China MEE Requires Submission of Reports on Greenhouse Gas Emissions 12 Apr 2022 China MEE specified the major tasks of 2022 on greenhouse gas emission data collection and strengthened the supervision on data quality... China Launches Inspection Campaign on Key Industrial Products Including Hazardous Chemicals 15 Apr 2022 The hazardous chemicals, hazardous chemical packagings, battery and other 7 products will be focused for inspection...
China Revises GB 30871 for Safety Specifications of Special Work in Hazardous Chemicals Enterprises 19 Apr 2022 The amendments mainly focus on mandatory terms, applicable scope, technical standards, safety management measures, etc...
China Consults on Over 300 Industrial Standards 25 Apr 2022 On April 15, 2022, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) issued a notice consulting on 315 industrial standards, English translations of 28 standards, and 5 standards for standard samples of aluminum alloys...
China Solicits Feedback on Three Food-related Products 25 Apr 2022 On April 22, 2022, CFSA released a notice to open three food-related products for public comments, including one food contact material (FCM) additive with expanded usage scope and two new varieties of FCM resins...
China: BFA Report on Asian Actions toward Green Transition 27 Apr 2022 On April 20, 2022, the Sustainable Development: Asia and the World Annual Report 2022 — Asia in Action towards Green Transition was released, which is to provide a stocktaking of current climate actions in Asia and provide policy recommendations accordingly...
China MEE Consults on Adding 22 Substances into IECSC 28 Apr 2022 These 22 substances were manufactured in or imported into China before October 15, 2003, which fulfilled the supplementation criteria but missed the previous supplementation window...
China Releases Guidelines on Unified Market Including Carbon Market 28 Apr 2022 On April 10, 2022, China unveiled the Opinions, which aimed to accelerate the establishment of the unified market system and rules and enable the smooth flow of commodity factors and resources on a larger scale...
China Issues Standard on Carbon Financial Products 29 Apr 2022 On 12 April 2022, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) issued a standard JR/T 0244-2022 Carbon
Financial Products, which came into force upon promulgation... 12 May 2022 On May 11, 2022, the Shanghai MSA provided further clarification on the 100% ingredients disclosure issues on dangerous goods (DG) that shipped via the Waigaoqiao Area of Shanghai Port...
30 Apr 2022: Deadline for Annual Reporting of China New Chemical Substances 27 Apr 2022 China’s Solid Waste and Chemicals Management Center (SCC) issued a notice on January 22, 2022 to notify certificate holders to submit annual report of 2021 through the online submission system before April 30, 2022...
Shanghai Pudong MSA Reviews the Management of Dangerous Good Shipping as per Yangtze River Protection Law throughout 2021 10 May 2022 On the virtual forum, Mr. Wang interpreted the requirement of 100% component information on the Safety Data Sheet (SDS) and pointed out the precautions for the declaration...
Shanghai MSA Clarifies Must-Know Issues for Shipping Dangerous Goods via Waigaoqiao Area of Shanghai Port: 100% Ingredients Disclosure is Not Mandatory 12 May 2022 On May 11, 2022, the Shanghai MSA provided further clarification on the 100% ingredients disclosure issues on dangerous goods (DG) that shipped via the Waigaoqiao Area of Shanghai Port...
China Plans to Pilot Hazchem QR Codes in More Cities 16 May 2022 In the first half year of 2022, the authority will be more focused on information supplementation in the new system. There are more entries regarding information about company and chemicals that have to be filled out in the new system...
China Permits 36 New Food Raw Materials, Additives and Food-related Products 17 May 2022 A new bacterial culture named Bifidobacterium longum subsp. longum BB536 was permitted to be used in infant food. Two new food additives, namely, Glutamine transaminase and Lutein, can be used in some dairy products...
China Unveils 5-Year Plan for Standardization of Emergency Management System 17 May 2022 The Plan is formulated to further strengthen the standardization of emergency management system, and to promote the modernization of emergency management capacities...
China to Enhance Safety Supervision and Administration of Transport of Dangerous Goods by Vessels 17 May 2022 Tougher administrative penalties will be imposed on violations regarding the transportation of dangerous goods by vessels are further clarified in the Provisions...
China Consults on Revision of International Road Transport Regulations 17 May 2022 The revision was drafted to optimize the management of international road transport, for Chinese government decided to promote reforms on government administration and services to create better business environment...
China Consults on Revised Standard for Lithium Batteries 18 May 2022 On May 07, 2022, China published a notice on the draft amendments of GB 31241-2014, which was renamed as Lithium Ion Cells and Batteries Used in Portable Electronic Equipments―Safety Technical Specification...
FQAs about “Green Channel” for 100% Ingredients Disclosure Issues on DG Cargoes Shipped via Shanghai Waigaoqiao Port as per the Yangtze River Protection Law 19 May 2022 A collection of FQAs on “Green Channel - Pre-review and Publicity Service” for shipping DG cargoes via Shanghai Waigaoqiao Port for your reference...
China Consults on Limits of Harmful Substances in Furniture 19 May 2022 Chemical safety of furniture has been put under the spotlight. It is imminent to publish a national standard to mandate the limits of hazardous chemicals in furniture to ensure customer safety...
China Updates Civil Explosives List 25 May 2022 On May 24, 2022, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the Ministry of Public Security issued a notice, announcing the amendments to the List of Explosives for Civil Use. 2 raw materials are added and 3 raw materials are amended in the List...
China Steps Up Efforts in Source Control over Toxic and Hazardous Chemicals 25 May 2022 The Chinese General Office of the State Council officially released the approved Action Plan for New Pollutants Treatment, which vows to improve the China’s new pollutants treatment capacity significantly by 2025...
China Outlines Action Plan to Control New Pollutants 26 May 2022 The main changes between the draft version and the official version are summarized, providing the compliance suggestions...
China to Revise Measures on Storage of Dangerous Goods Transported by Air 30 May 2022 On May 25, 2022, the Transport Division, Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) issued a notice to solicit public comments on the draft revision to the Administrative Measures for the Storage of Dangerous Goods Transported by Air...
China to Implement New Standards on Inspection of Export Packaging of Dangerous Goods 30 May 2022 The SN/T 0370-2021 serial standards for inspection of export packaging of dangerous goods came into force on June 1, 2022, replacing the SN/T 0370-2009 serial standards that have been in effect since 2010...
Chinese Experts Stress Chemical Safety of Toys 02 Jun 2022 The compliance rate of plastic toys in phthalates content is rising year by year. China is strengthening control over the use of endocrine disruptors in toys...
China to Formulate More VOC Standards for Special Functional Coatings 06 Jun 2022 Two group standards for anti-fogging coatings and fingerprint resistant coatings are expected to be formulated in 2022... China to Exempt Household Products and Medical Supplies from Hazchem Operation Permission 08 Jun 2022 China will revise the applicable scope of the Measures for the Administration of Hazchem Operation Permit to exempt household chemical products and medical devices that contain hazardous chemicals...
China Proposes 2022 Food GB Standard Legislation Plan 08 Jun 2022 On June 1, 2022, China National Health Commission (NHC) opened the comment period for the draft of 2022 National Food Safety Standard Legislation Plan until June 10, 2022...
China Sets Limits on Migratable Elements and Plasticizers for Children's Watches 08 Jun 2022 On April 15, 2022, the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) released the national standardGB/T 41411-2022 Children's Watches, which will come into force on November 01, 2022...
China’s First Notified New Cosmetic Ingredient Expands Use Purposes 13 Jun 2022 The first notified new cosmetic ingredient, Acetylneuraminic Acid, expanded its use purposes to anti-wrinkle agent, antioxidant, skin protectant, and moisturizer...
China Revises Requirements on Greenhouse Gas Emission Reporting 15 Jun 2022 China extended the deadline for carbon emission report verification, adjusted value of carbon emission parameter, and strengthened supervision on carbon emission data... China to Inspect Operations of Dangerous Goods at Ports 15 Jun 2022 Local authority will report inspection results to the Water Transportation Bureau of the MoT before July 5, 2022...
China Publishes ‘HJ 1257-2022’ to Standardize the Use of Terminology for Testing of Chemical Substances in Environmental Management 16 Jun 2022 The standard specifies the terms and definitions for testing commonly used in the environmental risk assessment of chemical substances...
India
India Puts Curbs on Import and Export of Hydrofluorocarbons 07 Apr 2022 India has restricted the export of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), as of a March 23 notification from the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) that moved 17 different HS codes for hydrofluorocarbons from the export policy of "Free" to "Restricted”...
India Publishes Quality Control Order for Trimethyl Phosphite 29 Apr 2022 On April 5, 2022, India’s Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers published the Trimethyl Phosphite (Quality Control) Order, 2022, which will come into force 180 days after its publication in the Official Gazette...
India Consults on Draft Chemical Standards 07 May 2022 The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) published 8 draft new standards and 4 draft revised standards for chemical substances used in plastics, resins, moulding and extrusion materials in April 2022 for comments... India to Revise Standards for Two Raw Materials for Paints and Varnishes 13 May 2022 On April 27, 2022, the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) published the draft amendments to two standards for barium sulphate and rutile titanium dioxide, which are used as raw materials in paint industry...
India Publishes Quality Control Orders for 8 Chemicals 20 May 2022 On April 27, 2022, India's Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers published Quality Control Orders for 8 chemicals, which will come into force 181 days after their promulgation in the Official Gazette...
India Consults on Draft Standard for Tooth Whitening and Bleaching Products 02 Jun 2022 The Standard prescribed requirements and test methods for external tooth whitening and bleaching products which are intended for use directly on the outer surfaces of teeth by professional application...
India Delays Implementation of Quality Control Orders for Six Substances 08 Jun 2022 In May 2022, India's Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals published amendments on the implementation dates of Quality Control Orders (QCOs) for six substances... India to Establish New Legal Framework for E-Waste Management 09 Jun 2022 India to further optimize the rules for electronic waste management, making more e-waste to be handled by formal sector...
India Consults on Draft Revised Standard for Carbon Tetrachloride 16 Jun 2022 On April 29, 2022, the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) published the Third Revision of Indian Standard (IS) 718 Carbon Tetrachloride – Specification. The Standard prescribes the requirements, methods of sampling and testing for carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)...
Japan
Japan Updates Test Methods for Household Products Containing Harmful Substances 01 Apr 2022 On March 28, 2022, the Japan MHLW deleted the test methods for household products containing hazardous substances from Annex 1 of the Ordinance for Enforcement of the Law on the Control of Household Products Containing Harmful Substances...
Japan Updates Priority Assessment Chemical Substances List 20 Apr 2022 PAC List was updated, 4 substances added and 13 removed...
Japan Proposes to Add Additional Existing Substances into the FCM Positive List 28 Apr 2022 Japan re-opened the nomination for existing substances to be included in the positive list, which would be the last opportunity to submit the application... Japan: GHS Rev. 6 to Apply as of May 25, 2022 27 May 2022 Japan has aligned its JIS Z 7252 and 7253 standards on chemical classification, labelling and safety data sheets (SDSs) with the GHS Rev.6. Chemical suppliers have until May 24, 2022 to adopt the requirements and update their SDSs and labels...
Japan Revises SDS and Labelling Requirements under ISHL 07 Jun 2022 In addition to the addition of substances for mandatory GHS-related obligations under ISHL, the MHLW amended the Ordinance on Industrial Safety and Health to introduce new requirements for SDS and labelling...
Malaysia
Malaysia Amends Occupational Safety and Health Act 31 May 2022 Malaysia published OSHA 2022 amendments in line of new challenges in occupational safety and health...
Singapore
Singapore to Revise SS 586 for GHS Classification, Labelling and SDS Preparation 12 Apr 2022 Public comments on draft revisions to SS 586 Part 2 and Part 3 are welcome before June 6, 2022...
Singapore Consults on Two Standards for Water-based Paints 04 May 2022 On April 4, 2022, the Enterprise Singapore published two draft standards for water-based paints. The consultation will end on May 5, 2022...
South Korea
South Korea Simplifies Data Requirements under K-REACH 25 Mar 2022 South Korea simplified data requirements for registration and exemption confirmation under K-REACH with certain conditions...
South Korea Consults on Updates of Quantity Limits for Hazardous Chemicals that Require Submitting Chemical Accident Prevention Management Plan 30 Mar 2022 Five toxic substances and one restricted substance will be provided with upper and lower handling quantities...
South Korea Requires Submission for Recyclability Data of Packaging Materials before April 15 06 Apr 2022 MOE issues a notice on submission of delivery and import records of products and packaging materials. Enterprises subject to recyclability shall report the delivery and import data to MOE before April 15, 2022...
South Korea Initiates MSDS Self-check Campaign, Followed by Official Inspection 22 Apr 2022 Self-check is due by the end of May and official inspection will start from July 2022...
South Korea Publishes English Guidance on Chemicals Verification under CCA 28 Apr 2022 Recently, South Korea’s Ministry of Environment issued the Guidance on the Chemicals Manufacture · Importation Procedures1 to facilitate the verification of chemicals under the Chemicals Control Act (CCA). The English version2 was issued for reference...
South Korea to Update Toxic Substances List and GHS Classification List 29 Apr 2022 10 substances are going to be designated as toxic substances after hazard evaluation under K-REACH. Transitional measures are provided for control of these toxic substances under CCA...
South Korea Announces Updates to Priority Management Chemicals under K-REACH, 162 Substances Added and 4 Removed 05 May 2022 The lists of substances subject to priority management are combined and 162 substances are supplemented...
17,263 Substances Pre-registered under Korea REACH 06 May 2022 212,992 pre-registration applications were submitted for 17,263 chemical substances. More than 9% of the pre-registered substances are manufactured or imported over 1,000 tonnes per year...
Updated New Chemical Substances Hazard Assessment Results under K-REACH 06 May 2022 On April 27, 2022, South Korea issued NIER Announcement No.2022-171, making public the amendments to the hazard assessment results of new chemical substances registered under K-REACH, which came into effect immediately...
South Korea to Publish WoE Guidelines for All Toxicity Endpoints by 2027 10 May 2022 More guidelines and checklists are to be published by 2027 to facilitate the use of Weight of Evidence (WoE) approach in hazard assessment...
South Korea to Implement Tighter K-BPR Labelling and Advertising Regulations 17 May 2022 Wording, which implies the products regulated under K-BPR are not toxic or not harmful to the environment and humans, is prohibited to be used in labeling and advertising...
South Korea to Implement Tighter K-BPR Labelling and Advertising Regulations 17 May 2022 Wording, which implies the products regulated under K-BPR are not toxic or not harmful to the environment and humans, is prohibited to be used in labeling and advertising...
South Korea Consults on Adding Eight Reproductive Toxic Substances as “Hazardous Substances subject to Control” 27 May 2022 Eight substances will be listed into the Annex 12 of the Standard of Occupational Safety and Health for special control...
South Korea Consults on Hazard Assessment Results of Chemical Substances Registered under K-REACH 09 Jun 2022 South Korea issued an announcement, seeking public comments on the updates of hazard assessment results of new and existing chemical substances...
South Korea Requires a Certificate of Recycled Resources for Food Packages 13 Jun 2022 On June 10, 2022, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) promulgated the Food Sanitation Act1, mainly adding the legal ground to regulate the usage of recycled resources in manufacturing food packages...
Taiwan
Taiwan EPA to Prohibit Chlorpyrifosmethyl and Chlorpyrifos for Environmental Agents 07 Apr 2022 Taiwan EPA added Chlorpyrifosmethyl and Chlorpyrifos as prohibited ingredients for environmental agents. The total number of prohibited ingredients for environmental agents is 82...
Taiwan Starts Inspections on over 2,000 Enterprises Handling CMRs 12 Apr 2022 In 2022, the MoL expects to inspect around 500～600 enterprises involved in handling CMRs...
Taiwan Requires SDS Submission for 10 Priority Management Chemicals 25 Apr 2022 The central competent authority could require additional operation information on priority management chemicals from handling enterprises if it is deemed necessary for exposure assessment... Taiwan to Ban PVC in Food and Feed Packaging from July 1, 2023 16 May 2022 EPA denoted that, “At present, all involved industries have available alternative materials to replace PVC. Taiwan can expect to reduce 79 metric tons of PVC food packaging every year”...
Taiwan Releases the Application Process for Using Recycled PET Chips and Flakes in Food Container and Packaging Manufacturing 19 May 2022 To in line with the international trend of circular economy, Taiwan released an application process to help enterprises using recycled PET chips and flakes in food container and packaging manufacturing on May 12, 2022...
Taiwan EPA Makes Public the Inspection Results of Environmental Agents throughout 2021 24 May 2022 The Taiwan EPA calls on the public to minimize the use of environmental agents, emphasizing that environmental rectification is the best cure for pest prevention...
Thailand
Thailand DIW to Update the List of Hazardous Substances under Hazardous Substances Act 07 Apr 2022 Thailand DIW is to revise types and conditions of certain listed hazardous substances, as well as to add new hazardous substances...
Thailand Revises TIS 685 for Toy Safety 20 Apr 2022 The standard for toy safety specifies the scope, prohibited materials, limits of chemicals, testing and analysis requirements, etc...
31 Aug 2022: Deadline for 2021 Annual Report on Safety Storage of Hazardous Substances under the Authorization of Thailand DIW 07 May 2022 As a transition measure, Thailand DIW allows relevant enterprises to submit the 2021 annual report of safety storage hazardous substances by August 31, 2022...
Vietnam
Vietnam to Revise Circular No. 32/2017/TT-BCT for Implementation of Law on Chemicals 20 May 2022 On April 28, 2022, Vietnam Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) issued draft amendments to the Circular No. 32/2017/TT-BCT which was effective on December 28, 2017 as implementation guidelines to the Decree No. 113/2017/ND-CP and the Law on Chemicals.
OURAY Corner
Our President & CEO, Aaron Montgomery, CHMM joined the BBC News and David Eades last night to discuss a recent missile strike to a Ukrainian Nitrogen plant's Nitric Acid tank near Severodonetsk.
With the increase in global traffic due to the lessening of Covid restrictions, there is now increased potential for transport incidents to rise as more freight is moved. If you find yourself like the BBC and need a dangerous goods expert on the phone, please give OURAY a call at (888) 777-0910.
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