Vietnam plans to change rules for restricted chemicals

Consultation on the proposed amendments to the Vietnamese rules on their restricted chemical licences, labelling, management logbooks, and annual reporting deadlines is currently ongoing until June 26, 2022. The approved changes would accordingly be applied to the existing chemicals law in Vietnam, Decree 113/2017/ND-CP.

The Draft Circular published on April 28, 2022, by the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) mainly proposes revision on several of the requirements stated in Circular No. 32/2017/TT-BCT Providing Guidelines for Implementation of the Law on Chemicals and the Decree No 113/2017/ND-CP.A key change seen in the proposals is that for hazardous chemicals called out in the chemicals law, companies concerned are obliged to prepare Safety Data Sheets (SDSs) before chemicals use and/or circulation in the market. To fulfill this requirement means to have information prepared according to Appendix 9 in the instructions.

It also proposes an amendment to the submission deadline for industrial annual reports which is to be altered from January 15 to February 15 for those activities relevant to chemicals. This includes where the dangerous chemical ingredients with a maximum concentration of 0.1% for mixtures would also have to be listed. Noteworthily, this does not apply to exempted chemicals in Annex II (i.e. the list of restricted chemicals) of the chemical law. Another highlight of the draft is the stipulation of the expiry date for the issuance or renewal of manufacturing or trade licences for restricted chemicals, which would be modified as “5 years from the issue date”. For the case of re-issued licences, the original expiry date will apply.

At the same time, guidance on management logbook preparations for manufacture, trade, and use of industrial precursors is brought up. Requests for chemical labelling to comply with effective regulations for goods as well as warning signs for dangerous chemicals transportation to comply with rules are also seen in the draft. The current progress of the Draft Circular could serve as a reminder to either the manufacturers or the importers of restricted chemicals that, upon the approval of the draft, compliance with the latest amendments would be crucially necessary.