China, revised version of the New Chemical Substances Environmental Management Registration Act 
The Ministry of Eco-Environment of China promulgated a revised version of the ” New Chemical Substances Environmental Management Registration Act” in the Order No. 12 of the Eco-Environment Department dated April 29, 2020. The revised law will come into effect on January 1, 2021. At the same time, the current “New Chemical Substances Environmental Management Registration Law” (promulgated on January 19, 2010, former Environmental Protection Department Ordinance No. 7) will be abolished.
The main revisions of the revised Act are as follows.
Scope of application
- In the 2020 edition, the following two cases are definitely added:
- Activities related to new chemical substances in bonded zones and export processing zones are exempted from the substances applicable, and
- The new substances which will be stored in the special oversight area of customs after the import and will be exported without being processed at all, are not applicable.
- In the 2020 edition, fertilizers were clearly added as targets for exemption.
- The sentence “ in the cases for research purposes and for annual production or import of volume of less than 100kg, this revised law does not apply, which were added to the opinion request version”, was not incorporated in the revised Act.
Registration classification
| 2020 Edition | 2010 Edition | |
| (1) Annual production or import amounts 10 tons or more | Normal registration | Normal registration |
| (2) Annual production or import amounts 1 to 10 tons | Simple registration | Normal registration |
| (3) Annual production or import amounts less than 1 ton | Declaration | Simple registration |
| (4) Mixture or polymer of low concern with 2% or less concentration of the new substance | Declaration | Simple registration |
Reporting obligations
| 2020 Edition | 2010 Edition |
|---|---|
| Report of first business transaction Annual reporting system |
Every time report on business transaction Business transaction report every 5 years Report of first business transaction Annual reporting system |
In the 2020 version, the protection period for information such as substance names is 5 years from the date of registration or declaration. ‥
The current 2010 edition does not specify it.
In addition, the revised “New Chemical Substance Environmental Management Law” will have the following chapters:
Chapter 1 General
Chapter 2 Basic Requirements
Chapter 3 Normal Registration, Simplified Registration and Declaration
Chapter 4 Tracking Management
Chapter 5 Legal Liability
Chapter Six Supplementary Provisions
The original text of the revised “New Chemical Substances Environmental Management Registration Law” can be viewed from the following URL (Simplified Chinese).
http://www.mee.gov.cn/xxgk2018/xxgk/xxgk02/202005/t20200507_777913.html
EnviX supplementary information
EnviX will sell a Japanese translation of the revised version of the “New Chemical Substances Environmental Management Registration Law”.
Scheduled start date of sales: May 25, 2020
