On 14 June 2022, the World Trade Organization released the draft decree of the list of materials exempted from Halal certification notified by Indonesia. This decree has entered into force from December 27, 2021. A series of raw materials and chemical substances lists were released. The raw materials and substances in the lists are identified as halal materials and can be exempted from Halal certification due to their properties. Known as the Halal Positive Lists, it not only includes many natural sources of ingredients such as essential oil, menthol and neroli oil but also over 4000 synthetic chemicals, including titanium dioxide and pigments. Raw materials and chemicals included in the Halal Positive List can be directly exported to Indonesia without fulfilling the obligation of Halal certification, which significantly eases the trade burden of enterprises.

Since its establishment in 2007, CIRS Group has focused on product regulatory compliance services, helping clients gain a competitive advantage by reducing business risks associated with regulatory affairs. After 15 years of development, CIRS Group has expanded its business across multiple industries to include: chemicals, cosmetics, food and beverages, medical devices, agrochemical products, disinfectants, and consumer goods.

The Persistent Organic Pollutants Review Committee (POPRC) will convene the 18th meeting of the Stockholm Convention to review Dechlorane Plus and Ultraviolet Absorbers (UV-328) in September 2022. Moreover, the 11th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Stockholm Convention will be held to review the amendment to list methoxychlor in Annex A in May 2023.

19 July 2022, China MEE announced that the 22 substances have fulfilled the requirements for IECSC supplementation and will be managed as existing chemical substances. CIRS warmly reminds that related enterprises must make sure whether their substances are existing substances. The Provisions on Environmental Administration of New Chemical Substances (MEE Order No. 12) require enterprises to complete new substance registration/record before manufacturing or importing, or they may face various punishments. To find whether the substance is existing substance, please search CIRS APCISS system.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade of Vietnam proposes to issue a draft to replace the chemical management Decree No.38/2014/ND-CP formulated on the basis of the “Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction” (the “Chemical Weapons Convention”, CWC).

China’s chemical inventory of existing chemical substances is IECSC, which stands for the Inventory of Existing Chemical Substances Produced or Imported in China (IECSC). There are two parts of IECSC, public part and classified/confidential part. Companies can check out the public part by themselves and shall only enquire Authorities for classified/confidential part. If substances are not listed in the public part, companies have to submit a formal enquiry to SCC to check whether a substance is listed in the confidential part. The enquiry costs 3000 RMB.

On the afternoon of June 22, the European Commission voted to construct the first regulation on the Carbon Boundary Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) in the worldwide range. This event marks that the European Commission (on July 15, 2021), the Council of the European Union (on March 15, 2022), and the European Parliament (on June 22, 2022) have released their own versions of the CBAM regulations.

The Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) of Malaysia is collecting public comments on the revision to the Occupation Safety and Health Act, making it aligns with the eighth edition of the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS). On June 13, the proposed updates announced by the DOSH would apply to the Occupational Safety and Health (Classification, Labelling and Safety Data Sheet) Act 2013.

On June 10, 2022, the European Commission revised the definition of nanomaterials in a new Recommendation. As a deliverable of the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability, the new Recommendation supports a coherent EU regulatory framework for nanomaterials, helping to align legislation across all sectors. It is expected that different individual sectors will update their internal definition according to the revised definition after the new Recommendation is implemented. Each sector will proceed in accordance with its own timetable.

On June 3, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare of Japan identified four substances that pose a risk of respiratory issues or skin absorption to workers on exposure. The Ministry recommends that companies that produce or process these substances should take precautionary measures under the Industrial Safety and Health Act (ISHA), including alleviating or preventing workers’ exposure to these substances by improving ventilation conditions, as well as providing personal protective equipment (PPE).