Vietnam proposes a draft version to restrict POPs in certain items

The second Draft of the National Technical Regulation on Thresholds for Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) in Articles, Products, Commodities, and Equipment was issued by Vietnam's Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) on 15 September 2022, and comments are now being accepted until 14 November 2022. This law would apply to companies in Vietnam that import, manufacture, trade, or use raw materials, fuels, products, commodities, or equipment that contains POPs. It is scheduled to go into effect on 1 January 2023.  

The first draft, which was released on 12 November 2021, included concentration limits for certain POPs that were allowed in plastic items, electronic devices, articles, goods, commodities, equipment, food contact materials, firefighting foam and more. It also outlined the maximum allowed values for seven different types of POPs in a variety of materials and products. 

The technical regulation would also mandate conformity assessments, compliant labelling, and government notification of any raw materials, products, goods, and equipment containing POPs before they could be sold on the Vietnamese market by businesses importing, manufacturing, trading, or using the specified products. Exporters would not be subject to the restriction.  

7 POP compounds are regulated in the second draft, each with a specific set of requirements.