SAWS Order 53 - HazChem Registration in China

Updated on 17 Dec 2014 by Mr. Pro   [Disclaimer]  [PDF]

The revised Measures for the Administration of Registration of Hazardous Chemicals (SAWS’s Order 53) was issued in July 2012 and came into force on 1 Aug 2012. The regulation is promulgated in accordance with the article 66 and 67 of Decree 591 and sets out detailed requirements on HazChem registrations with the State Administration of Work Safety (SAWS).

 

Main Requirements of SAWS Order 53

SAWS’s Order 53 requires that domestic manufacturers and importers register hazardous chemicals with the National Registration Center of Chemicals (NRCC) of SAWS prior to manufacturing or importation. Compared to the old measures, it has triggered new obligations for importers and required more detailed hazard data from companies for registration as well as a 24h emergency contact number.


Hazardous Chemicals Subject to Registration

Unlike MEP’s order 7 which focuses on substances, SAWS’s order 53 focuses on chemical products which include both substances and mixtures. A product requires registration if:

 

 

For a chemical product with unknown hazards (a chemical outside of the Catalog), hazard identification needs to be conducted by qualified institutes as required by SAWS’s order 60 for physic-chemical identification and classification. If the product is identified as hazardous, registration will be required.

 

Note: Technical speaking, all chemicals meeting GHS hazard classification (excluding certain hazard categories such as acute toxicity 5) will require registrations. The biggest loophole of SAWS’s order 53 is that there is no small quantity exemption for hazardous chemicals. Many companies have complained about this.

 

Registration Procedure and Information Requirement

The following info for each hazardous product needs to be submitted online to local HazChem registration office which conducts preliminary review and passes complete registration materials to the National Registration Center for Chemicals (NRCC) of SAWS based in Qingdao City of Shandong Province.

 

  • Legal entity information;
  • Classification and labeling(China GHS);
  • Phyiso-chemical properties;
  • Main uses;
  • Hazard properties;
  • Safety requirement for storage, use and transport;
  • Emergency responses(24h emergency contact number required);
  • Chinese GHS SDS and labels required.

 

Registration certificate is valid for 3 years and can be renewed be renewed 3 months prior to certificate’s expiry date.

 

To access the online registration system, please click the following link:

 

Current Status of Implementation of SAWS’s Order 53

SAWS have repeated emphasized that both chemicals in the Catalogue and non-listed hazardous chemicals require HazChem registrations. When it comes to HazChem registrations, about 23,000 manufacturers and 146 importers have obtained registration certificates for hazardous chemicals from SAWS up to Nov 2014. Since HazChem registration is a new requirement for importers, many importers have not registered yet. SAWS plans to work with customs and China Inspection and Quarantine Bureau (CIQ) to enforce the importation of hazardous chemicals.

 

Reference & Resources

Click here to access all references and resources for China including the English translation of regulations, regulatory lists and useful links to the websites of competent authorities.

 

Update History

Click here to find out the update history of chemical regulations in China.


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