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China SAWS Publishes the Revised Catalogue of Hazardous Chemicals for Consultations

Original Breaking Alert

28 Sept 2013, The State Administration of Work Safety in China (China SAWS) has published the long-awaited draft edition of revised Catalogue of Hazardous Chemicals for public consultations. There are 2,936 chemicals (consisting of primarily substances and a few mixtures) in the draft Catalogue. Industry has been requested to submit their comments before 31 Oct 2013.

Compared to the current Catalogue which contains 3,834 chemicals, the new Catalog has deleted a few mixtures and combined similar entries into one entry. Formulated products have also been deleted. Only active ingredients are kept in the new Catalogue.

Some examples are listed below:

CN Name

EN  Name in Catalogue 2002

CAS

Draft Catalog（2013）

硝基胍[干的或含水＜20%]

 Nitroguanidine,dry or wetted with less than 20% water,by mass

556-88-7

Deleted

硝基脲

Nitrourea

556-89-8

Combined into one entry: Nitrourea

硝基脲[干的或含水＜20%]

Nitrourea,dry or wetted with less than 20％ water,by mass

124-47-0

含一级易燃溶剂的胶粘剂[-18℃≤闪点＜23℃]，

Adhesives containing Class I flammable solvent(flash point not less than -18℃ and not more than 23℃)

　

Combined into one generic entry 2936:Adhesive, synthetic resin, paint, auxiliary material, coatings and other preparations containing flammable liquids(product close-cup flashpoint≤60℃)

含一级易燃溶剂的合成树脂[-18℃≤闪点＜23℃]，

Synthetic resins containing Class I flammable solvent( flash point not less than -18℃ and not more than 23℃)

　

含一级易燃溶剂的油漆、辅助材料及涂料[-18℃≤闪点＜23℃]，

Paint, auxillary materials and coatings containing Class I flammable solvents(flash point not less than -18℃ and not more than 23℃)

　

含一级易燃溶剂的其他制品[-18℃≤闪点＜23℃]，

Other preparations containing Class I flammable solvent(flash point not less than -18℃ and not more than 23℃)

　

毒杀芬[含量＞10%]

 Camphechlor (content＞10%)

　

Changed to: Camphechlor (*)

 

The notice has set criteria for determining hazardous chemicals in the Catalog. The hazardous chemicals in the Catalogue are determined from chemicals with the following hazard classes and hazard categories in accordance with Chinese national standards on classification and labeling:

  • Explosives: Unstable explosives, Division 1.1-1.4;
  • Flammable gases: Category 1-2, chemically unstable gases Category A, B
  • Aerosols: Category 1
  • Oxidizing gases: Category 1
  • Gases under pressure: Compressed gases, Liquefied gases, refrigerated liquefied gases, Dissolved gases
  • Flammable liquids: Category 1-3;
  • Flammable solids: Category 1-2;
  • Self-reactive substances and mixtures: Type A, B, C, D, E;
  • Pyrophoric liquids: Category 1;
  • Pyrophoric solids: Category 1;
  • Self-heating substances and mixtures: Category 1-2;
  • Substances and mixtures when in contact with water emit flammable gases: Category 1-3;
  • Oxidizing liquids: Category 1-3;
  • Oxidizing solids: Category 1-3;
  • Organic peroxides: Type A, B, C, D, E, F;
  • Corrosive to metals: Category 1;
  • Acute toxicity: Category 1-3;
  • Skin corrosion/irritation: Category 1A, 1B, 1C, Category 2;
  • Serious eye damage/eye irritation: Category 1, 2A, 2B;
  • Respiratory or skin sensitisation.: Resp sens 1A, 1B, Skin sens 1A, 1B;
  • Germ cell mutagenicity: Category 1A, 1B, Category 2
  • Carcinogenicity: Category 1A, 1B, Category 2;
  • Reproductive toxicity: Category 1A, 1B, Category 2, additional (effects on/via lactation);
  • Specific target organ toxicity - single exposure: Category 1-3;
  • Specific target organ toxicity - repeated exposure: Category 1-2;
  • Aspiration hazard: Category 1;
  • Hazardous to aquatic environment - acute toxicity: Category 1-2;
  • Hazardous to aquatic environment - chronic toxicity: Category 1-3;
  • Hazardous to the ozone layer: Category 1;

 

The notice has also set the definition of hypo-toxic chemicals. Chemicals with classified with acute toxicity category 1 will be regarded as hypo-toxic chemicals.

To download the Chinese version of Catalogue of Hazardous Chemicals(2013 Draft), please click here.

Note*

If you would like to get the English version of the new Catalog of Hazardous Chemicals(2013 draft) and find out all the differences between Catalog(2002) and Catalog(2013 Draft),please complete this order form and send it to service@cirs-reach.com.

Reference

http://www.chinasafety.gov.cn/2013/0926/220588/content_220588.htm

CIRS Comments

  • The entries in the revised Catalog seem to have been reduced significantly. However, the number of chemicals covered did not decrease significantly considering that many entries have combined into one entry or generic entry; Any entry(excluding mixture with content specification) in the revised Catalogue means an industrial product or a product with purity above general industrial product; Inorganic salts cover both anhydrous form and salts containing cystal water;
  • The revised Catalog is good news for pesticide industry. The new Catalog will no longer cover formulated pesticide products. For chemicals which are listed in the revised Catalogue and are to be used as active ingredients in formulated pesticide products (marked in *, for example, Camphechlor), companies are no longer required to apply for relevant licenses from SAWS. However, environmental administration of registration of hazardous chemicals cannot be avoided;
  • Companies shall pay extra attention to the change of definition of highly toxic chemicals and generic entries (2049 for asbestos, 2936 for flammable resins, paints, coatings, etc) in the revised Catalogue of Hazardous Chemicals (draft); The number of highly toxic chemicals has been significantly reduced from over 300 chemicals to 149 highly toxic chemicals due to change of definitions (GHS acute toxicity category 1 & 2-> GHS acute toxicity category 1). 
  • The draft version of the revised Catalogue does not include classifications. However, SAWS will publish GHS classifications and their UN No. for chemicals in the revised Catalogue in a separate guidance document. The classifications will be compulsory. Companies can either use the classification given in the guidance document or use more severe classifications to prepare SDSs and labels. 

About the Catalogue

The Catalogue of Hazardous Chemicals is an administrative license Catalogue in China. Under Decree 591, Chinese companies who deal with chemicals in the Catalogue in China (i.e inks, paints) need to get relevant licenses from work safety authorities (i.e, production license, operation license, safe use license, etc) for their activities such as production, importation, distribution and use. Also it is mandatory for producers and importers to register hazardous chemicals in the Catalog prior to their production and importation. Its revision will great impact on companies doing businessess in China.

If you wish to understand how the revised Catalogue 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