Country

Laws and Regulations

• China

Main laws:

- Regulations on safe management of hazardous chemicals(2011) - requiring GHS sds and label for hazardous chemical substances.

- The Measures on Environmental Administration of New Chemical Substances (2010)- requiring GHS classification data and sds for new chemical substances.

Classification standards:

GB 20576 ~ GB 20602-2006 - “Safety rules for classification, precautionary labeling and precautionary statements of chemicals ” - based on UN-GHS 2003 1st edition.

GB 13690-2009 - "General rules for classification and hazard communication of chemicals";

- Please note this standard also applies to consumer products.

Labelling standards:

GB 15258-2009 – "General rules for precautionary label for chemicals”;

GB 190-2009 - “Packaging Labels for Dangerous goods";

GB/T 22234-2008 - “Labeling of Chemicals Based on GHS”;

Safety Data Sheet:

GB/T 16483 -2008 - "Safety data sheet for chemical products: Content and order of sections".

More info about those standards...

• Korea

Main Laws:

- Industrial Safety & Health Act - requiring GHS classification and labelling for chemicals that meet GHS hazard criteria;

- Toxic Chemicals Control Act - requiring GHS classification and labelling for toxic chemicals;

Standards:

Public Notice No 2008-26 - Regulation for Classification & Labeling of Toxic Chemicals.

MoL Notice No 2012-14 - Standard for Classification and Labeling of Chemical Substance and Material Safety Data Sheet (new)

• Japan

Main Laws:

- Industrial Safety and Health Law (ISHL) - requiring GHS classification data and labelling for ISHL listed substances(~640 substances);

CSCL has required label for Class II Specified Chemical Substances. PRTR law requires MSDS for over 400 substances. Poisonous and Deleterious Substances Control Law (PDSCL) has required MSDS for over 300 substances. Even though those laws did not mention GHS, GHS SDS and labels are recommended.

Standards:

- GHS classification (JISZ7252);

- MSDS (JISZ7250) - to be used until 2016;

- labelling (JISZ7251) to be used until 2015.

- New standard JISZ7253(SDS+Labellling) to replace JISZ7250 and JISZ7251 in 2012.

Country

Important Timeline

• China

31 May 2011

This is the day when the transitional period for the three compulsory GHS national standards GB 13690-2009, GB 15258-2009, and GB 190-2009 end. All chemicals or mixtures placed on Chinese market shall be classified and labeled in accordance with those standards from 1 June 2011.

1 Dec 2011

This is the day when Regulations on safe management of hazardous chemicals (2011) comes into force. From 1 Dec 2011, companies who fail to provide GHS compliant SDS and labels for hazardous chemicals might face a maximum penalty of 50,000 yuan or even a ban on production or import;

The current Catalog of Hazardous Chemicals (2002) contains more than 3,700 chemicals.

Comments

The deadline 31 May 2011 applies to almost all classified substances and mixtures placed on Chinese market. However, only failure to classify and label hazardous chemical substances might lead to legal penalties.

Latest Trends

Chinese government has prioritized mandatory GHS classification and labelling for hazardous chemicals. We expect the government to publish a new Catalog of Hazardous Chemicals soon. This new Catalog might include harmonized classification data that Chinese companies must use to prepare their GHS compliant SDS and labels.

• Korea

1 July 2010

The grace period for mandatory GHS classification and labelling for substances that meet GHS hazard criteria ends. This deadline is set by the Public Notice No 2008-29.

1 July 2011

The grace period for mandatory GHS classification and labelling for toxic substances regulated under TCCA. This deadline is set by the Public Notice No 2008-26.

1 July 2013

This is the day when the transition period for mandatory GHS classification and labelling for mixtures ends. This deadline is set by both public notice mentioned above.

Comments:

GHS classification and labelling is mandatory for almost all chemicals that meet GHS classification criteria in Korea.

Latest Trends

On 28 June 2011, National Institute of Environmental Research (NIER) of South Korea published the amended list of GHS classification and labelling for “Toxic Chemical” regulated by TCCA. The list contains 618 chemicals. It will be mandatory for companies to use the GHS classification in the list to prepare SDS and chemical label from 1 July 2011. This list is constantly being updated.

The list is available here:

http://ncis.nier.go.kr/ghs/ghs_info/

• Japan

1 Dec 2006

Amended ISHL implementing GHS came into force, requiring mandatory GHS classification data and label for around 640 chemicals regulated by ISHL.

31 Dec 2010

The grace period for the new MSDS standard(JIS Z 7250:2005) ends. The old Japanese format(JIS Z 7250:2000) will no longer be used.

Comments

ISHL is the only law requiring GHS compliant label and MSDS in Japan. This requirement only applies to around 640 designated substances only. Other laws have also required MSDS and label for hundreds of other regulated substances, but not all substances. However, we strongly suggest that all chemicals and mixtures placed on the Japanese market come with MSDS and labels that have been prepared in accordance with relevant national standards.

Latest Trends

Japanese government has kept classifying substances in accordance with GHS criteria for many years. Up to 1 June 2011, GHS classifications for 2,231 substances have been published. However, it is not mandatory for industry to use those classification data.

The list is available from:

http://www.safe.nite.go.jp/ghs/list.html

Country

Building Blocks

• China

The following hazard classes and categories from 4th revised UN-GHS are not adopted:

- Chemically unstable gases category A and B;

- Non-flammable aerosols category 3;

- Respiratory sensitization subcategory 1A & 1B (China does have category 1);

- Skin sensitization subcategory 1A & 1B (China does have category 1);

- STOT- single exposure category 3;

- Aspiration category 1 and  2;

- Hazardous to the ozone layer category 1

Other differences:

- acute toxicity for (inhalation) gases category 4 and 5. Threshold value is 5000 ppm, not 20000ppm;

- simplified label;

- black frame of pictogram is also acceptable;

More information can be found here.

• Korea

The following hazard classes and categories from UN-GHS are not adopted:

- Chemically unstable gases category A and B;

- Non-flammable aerosols category 3;

- flammable liquids category 4;

- acute toxicity category 5;

- skin corrosion/irritation category 3;

- acute aquatic toxicity category 2 and 3;

Note: Building blocks adopted by MoE and MoL are slightly different.

• Japan

The following hazard classes and categories from UN-GHS are not adopted:

- Chemically unstable gases category A and B;

- Non-flammable aerosols category 3;

- acute toxicity category 5;

- skin corrosion/irritation category 3;

- aspiration hazard category 2;