Vietnam releases second draft of technical standard on POPs content in products

On Sept. 15, 2022, Vietnam’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment published the second Draft National Technical Regulation on Thresholds for Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) in Articles, Products, Commodities and Equipment on the WTO’s platform for TBT notifications and began accepting comments. This regulation is planned to come into effect on Jan. 1, 2023 and would apply to businesses in Vietnam that import, manufacture, trade or use raw materials, fuels, materials, products, commodities or equipment containing POPs.

Table 1 of the draft is a list of raw materials, materials, products, commodities and equipment containing POPs (e.g., firefighting foam and food packaging containing PFOA) with their POP content limits. Those who handle the items on the list would be required to make an application to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

The above table gives the CAS RN, uses and concentration limit of each regulated POP as follows.