In order to effectively control the environmental harm caused by toxic substances, the Environmental Protection Agency has revised the "Toxic Chemical Substances Management Act" and will submit it to the Political Yuan for review before the end of the year. The Environmental Protection Agency explained that the purpose of this amendment is to promote the source management of toxic chemicals and incorporate it into the EU REACH practice. It requires businesses to actively log existing and new chemical substances on the Environmental Protection Agency platform, and the burden of safety testing and proof will return to manufacturers.
The EU has implemented REACH (EU's new chemical policy) since 2007. All products exported to EU countries must be registered if they contain chemical substances. If they are highly hazardous substances specified by the EU, manufacturers must also establish a safety assessment. , can only be imported after being confirmed by the EU.
The content of REACH focuses on early warning, and the burden of safety testing and proof is returned from the previous "competent authority" to the "manufacturer" in order to cope with the "hundreds" of new chemical substances added every year. If it is managed by the government, there will be omissions and it will be difficult to protect the public. healthy.
Shen Shihong, director of the Environmental Protection Agency, pointed out that the Environmental Protection Agency has revised the "Toxic Chemical Substances Management Law" and will introduce the EU REACH regulations. In the future, chemical substances will be divided into two forms of control, one is existing chemical substances and the other is new chemical substances. .
The Environmental Protection Agency's Toxic Control Division stated that by the end of December last year, the Labor Committee had screened out more than 60,000 "existing chemical substances" in the domestic list. Once the amendment to the Toxic Chemical Substances Management Act passes the third reading, the Environmental Protection Agency will
Immediately establish a chemical substance registration platform. As long as manufacturers manufacture and import a certain amount of existing chemical substances or new chemical substances, they need to apply to the central competent authority to register the operation status, material characteristics and exposure of chemical substances.
Hazard assessment and annual declaration of manufacturing or input quantities can be used.
Once manufacturers register chemical substances on the Environmental Protection Agency platform, the Environmental Protection Agency will invite scholars to screen for toxic chemicals that must be controlled, and list toxic chemicals in Category 1 to Category 4 based on toxicity to strengthen control.
The Environmental Protection Agency pointed out that if manufacturers refuse to log in, the Environmental Protection Agency will impose a fine of 100,000 to 500,000 yuan in accordance with the Toxic Control Law, and will provide improvements within a time limit, and may impose consecutive fines on a case-by-case basis. If the manufacturer's declaration is false, it may be transferred to law enforcement in accordance with the Poison Control Law.
The Environmental Protection Agency pointed out that all manufacturers and importers should now clearly identify the chemical substances "used in the manufacturing process" or "contained in imported products" and confirm whether they have been screened by the Labor Committee.
If it is not included in the list of 10,000 existing chemical substances, after the amendment to the Poison Control Law is implemented, operators will be provided with the opportunity to make up for registration. However, after the deadline for making up for registration, the chemical substance will be regarded as a "new chemical" for control.
Source: Industrial and Commercial Times (2011-10-05)
