Malaysia revamps registration system for manufacture and import of environmentally hazardous substances

On September 5, 2023, the revamped Environmentally Hazardous Substance (EHS) registration system, named MyEHS, was launched in Malaysia. The website has been redesigned, where companies create an account, log in, and complete the necessary procedures. The new MyEHS requests companies to submit information on the manufacture and import of chemical substances regulated under specific frameworks, mainly international conventions.

MyEHS homepage

The website of the updated MyEHS can be found at:
https://myehs.doe.gov.my/

User guides for MyEHS are available at:
https://myehs.doe.gov.my/user-guide

What is MyEHS?

MyEHS is a registration system for EHS and its main objectives are as follows:

• To collect information from industry on the EHS imported, exported and/or manufactured in Malaysia, which will be used to prepare a national EHS inventory.
• To provide the necessary information to enable the Department of Environment (DOE) of the Ministry of Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change to prepare the EHS Risk Prioritization List and to further conduct the EHS Risk Assessment.
• To digitalize EHS import/export and manufacturing application processes.

The chemical substances covered by MyEHS are listed in the EHS Reference List as follows:

• Chemicals listed in Annex III to the Rotterdam Convention
• Chemicals listed in Annexes A, B and C to the Stockholm Convention
• Chemicals controlled under the Minamata Convention on Mercury
• Chemicals listed in Annexes I and V to the EU PIC Regulation (Regulation (EU) No 649/2012)
• Other substances identified as substances of concern by the Director General of DOE (e.g., chemicals listed in Customs (Prohibition of Import) Order 2023 and Customs (Prohibition of Export) Order 2023)

However, the following chemicals are excluded from the scope of MyEHS:

• Exempted substances as specified in Article 3 of the Rotterdam Convention
• Exempted substances as specified in Annexes A, B and C to the Stockholm Convention
• Chemicals exported or imported for research or analysis purpose, provided that the quantity exported/imported is unlikely to affect human health or the environment and does not exceed 10 kilograms per exporter to each importing country per calendar year under the EU PIC Regulation

Chemicals covered by the following legislation are also not subject to MyEHS (as the information is already submitted separately to the competent authorities):

• Pesticides Act 1974
• Poisons Act 1952
• Atomic Energy Licensing Act 1984
• Chemical Weapons Convention Act 2005

EnviX Comment

In Malaysia, the Environmentally Hazardous Substances Notification and Registration (EHSNR) scheme, the predecessor of MyEHS, started in 2009. By defining EHS as “substances that fall into hazard classifications according to the GHS classification or are on internationally agreed lists of prohibited substances,” EHSNR covered a wide range of substances, not only those regulated by specific international conventions such as those mentioned above. The EHSNR registration was classified into two types: “basic” registration and “detailed” registration. The basic registration covered more than 3,000 substances included in the EHS list established by DOE, while the detailed registration covered EHSs not included in the list. Thus, MyEHS as a new scheme announced this time differs significantly from EHSNR in terms of (1) substances to be covered and (2) types of registration.

In addition, EHSNR was originally launched as a voluntary scheme, but the term “voluntary” has been removed in the revamped MyEHS. When an EnviX staff member talked with a MyEHS representative via phone call to confirm this point, they did not give a clear answer to the “voluntary or mandatory” question but expressed their view that they “encourage companies to register EHS.”

Initially, the EHSNR scheme was established to conduct EHS risk assessments with the cooperation of industry, and for DOE to formulate regulations for chemical substance management. However, new laws and regulations have yet to be formulated, and the regulatory scheme itself has been modified, as seen in this case of MyEHS, leaving the direction for Malaysia’s chemical substance management system uncertain.