Amendments of Poisons Act in India

In early April, the Department of Chemicals & Petrochemicals under the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, India chaired a meeting on implications of Poisons Act (1919) in chemical industry.  

One of the issues that brought up in this meeting is the handling of acids and poisons. Currently, the industries that are using a large amount of acid or poisons are under the supervision of local government based on the Poison Act (1919). The supervision has become a challenge when industries increased their use of acids for their end products. Accidents related to processing and storing also become an issue. Experts at the meeting suggest that handling of such chemicals is not sufficient under the current scheme of Poisons Act, and handling/processing of certain acids should even be restricted for industrial use.    

Representatives from the Indian Chemical Council suggest that chemicals of such should be regulated by Indian CMSR, the 5th draft published on August 24, 2020. The Indian CMSR is expected to come into force later this year.   

last update: 2021-04-20