China releases report on notable cases of illegalities regarding new chemicals 
On Sept. 27, 2022, China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment published a report on cases where some companies were punished for violating the Measures on the Environmental Management and Registration of New Chemical Substances. The case of a Tianjin-based fine chemical manufacturer that failed to register new chemicals it produced and received a fine of 20,000 yuan ($2,810) is outlined below as an example.
Case of a Tianjin-based fine chemical manufacturer
On May 25, 2021, the Tianjin Ecology and Environment Bureau conducted an on-site inspection of a fine chemical manufacturer in Tianjin, when it examined relevant documents of the company including SDSs. The bureau found that two pharmaceutical intermediates the manufacturer produced in 2020 were new chemicals (i.e., they were not on the Inventory of Existing Chemical Substances in China). Of these intermediates, 61.9 tons and 9.9 tons were produced, respectively.
The manufacturer did not obtain New Chemical Substance Environmental Management Registration Certificates for the chemicals. This constituted violations of Paragraph 2 of Article 4 and Paragraphs 1 and 2 of Article 10 of the Measures on the Environmental Management and Registration of New Chemical Substances. the Tianjin Ecology and Environment Bureau ordered the company to correct the violations immediately and pay a 20,000-yuan fine.
Relevant provisions of the Measures on the Environmental Management and Registration of New Chemical Substances
Paragraph 2 of Article 4
Producers and importers of new chemical substances must obtain New Chemical Substance Environmental Management Registration Certificates or Simplified Registration Certificates or make Environmental Management Notifications of the new chemicals before producing or importing them.
Paragraph 1 of Article 10
Those that produce or import 10 tons or more of new chemicals annually must do Environmental Management Regular Registrations for the new chemical substances.
Paragraph 2 of Article 10
Those that produce or import 1 ton or more and less than 10 tons of new chemicals annually must do Environmental Management Simplified Registrations for the new chemical substances.
In the case of the Tianjin-based manufacturer, the company was required to do a regular registration for the new chemical whose production was 61.9 tons, and a simplified registration for the other new chemical with 9.9 tons of production.
The report by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (in Chinese) is available at
https://www.mee.gov.cn/ywdt/xwfb/202209/t20220927_995113.shtml
