Recently, the Department of Climate Change, Energy, Environment, and Water Resources (DCCEEW) in Australia proposed to include several brominated flame retardant chemicals in the Industrial Chemicals Environmental Management Standards (IChEMS) register. Substances that may cause serious or irreversible harm to the environment but have essential industrial uses are proposed to be included in Appendix 6 of IChEMS while substances causing serious or irreversible harm to the environment and without essential industrial uses are included in Appendix 7 of IChEMS.

On August 16, 2023, Peru’s General Directorate of Environmental Health and Food Safety (DIGESA) notified the World Trade Organization (WTO) of a regulation concerning paints and other coating materials. This regulation is designed to restrict the lead content in paints, ensuring the protection of public health and safety. It also outlines requirements for product labeling. Currently, the regulation is undergoing a 60-day review, comments are welcomed before October 15.

Enterprises face significant challenges in chemical compliance due to the frequent updates of chemical regulations and the numerous regulatory lists issued by different authorities, particularly in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region. To help chemical companies better understand these regulations, their compliance risks and regulatory obligations in APAC countries, the CIRS Group has developed ChemRadar, which integrates our existing Asia-Pacific Chemical Inventory Search System (APCISS) tool and provides some useful new features. On August 18, we are pleased to officially launch this free-to-use tool!

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of Thailand recently proposed removing citronella oil from the list of hazardous substances. Citronella oil (substance number 99, CAS number: 8000-29-1) is commonly used for household or public hygiene purposes to prevent, control, repel, and eliminate insects and other animals. It is currently classified as a Type 1 hazardous substance.

November 16, 2022, Australia has added 8 substances into the Australian Inventory of Industrial Chemicals (AIIC) and revoked the CBI approval of 1 substance under the requirements of the Australian Industrial Chemicals Act.

From June 13 to July 4, 2022, Singapore's National Environment Agency (NEA) published a public consultation on the proposal to control 26 chemicals as hazardous chemicals because some of the 26 chemicals are highly toxic, polluting, and/or generate intractable waste that is difficult to manage and safely dispose of. During the consultation period, 52 feedbacks were received and suggestions on regulatory details were also collected. We have prepared a summary of the HS license/permit application and requirements.

Vietnam’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment published the Draft National Technical Regulation on Thresholds for Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) in Articles, Products, Commodities and Equipment (G/TBT/N/VNM/238-TBT notification) on September 15, 2022. The final date for comments shall be 60 days from its notification.

On June 16, 2022, Vietnam published its chemical industry development strategy for 2030 and its vision towards 2040 (Resolution No. 726/QD-TTg). Under the strategy, the chemical industry in Vietnam will be developed into ten sub-branches: basic chemicals, petrochemistry, industrial rubber, pharmaceutical chemistry, fertilizers, plant protection chemicals, industrial gases, paint and printing inks, detergents, and batteries.

On 4 April 2022, Singapore has released the draft GHS Standards. The draft standard is open for public comments until 6 Jun. 2022. The preparation of Safety Data Sheets (SDS) can prevent users of chemicals from exposure to chemicals; and to guide the potential users in describing and determining the empirical data of the substance or mixture. Potential users need to pay attention to this standard that it is not applicable to the use of pharmaceutical substances or preparations by medical physicians and veterinarians in the management of the health of a person or an animal but to that in an industrial process. Besides, it will be mandatory for enterprises to classify and label their chemicals based on the new standard, and to update their SDS to ensure the SDS is compliant.

On 31 March 2022, Thailand released annexes to the Hazardous Substances Act for public consultation. Comments can be submitted before 31 May 2022. The amendments involve the revision and inclusion of certain hazardous substances on the list of hazardous substances annexed to the Hazardous Substance Act. The summary is as follows: