China reveals violation cases against rules on hazardous chemical transportation in Yangtze River 
On Feb. 21, 2023, the Shanghai Maritime Safety Administration published a short report on a violation of the regulations on hazardous chemical transportation by ship in the Yangtze River.
Overview
On Feb. 10, 2023, when the administration reviewed a safety data sheet (SDS) submitted by an international marine transportation company with the dangerous goods smart review assistant system, it found an item of dangerous goods under the name of “chloroacetic acid” that was suspected to be a substance banned for transportation in the Yangtze River.
An inspection officer checked a relevant document attached to the goods declaration submitted by the company, and confirmed that it was a banned substance: the name and CAS Number of its main component matched Item no. 189 of the 2019 List of Hazardous Chemicals Banned for Transportation in Inland Rivers1, and it was classified in acute aquatic toxicity Category I.
The administration did not permit the transportation in the Yangtze River, demanded that the company take the responsibility for the goods declaration of the banned item, and punished the person who made the declaration.
Related law
Article 51, Paragraph 2 of the Yangtze River Protection Law, which came into effect March 1, 2021, states that “In the Yangtze River basin, it is prohibited to transport highly toxic chemicals on water and other hazardous chemicals that are prohibited by the State from being transported through inland rivers.”
Under this law, the Shanghai Maritime Safety Administration has banned the departure, arrival, transportation and transshipment of goods specified in the above-mentioned list of banned chemicals in the Waigaoqiao area of the Port of Shanghai as an area located within the main section of the Yangtze River since March 1, 2021.
The report of the administration (in Chinese) is available at
https://www.sh.msa.gov.cn/aqxwdt/90634.jhtml.
1 内河禁运危险化学品目录 (2019版)
