Although the review period of the HC Safe Production Permit and HC Safe Use Permit is to be shortened from 45 working days to 30 working days, relevant certificates, such as Notification of Major Hazard Sources, Hazchem Registration and Safe Production Standardization Certificate, are required to be verified before granting such permits.

ChemLinked learnt from a MEM official that the revisions to four regulations regarding the safety management of hazardous chemicals (HC) in China have been drafted. These four regulations include:

1. Measures for the Administration of Hazardous Chemicals Safe Production Permit (last revised in 2017);
2. Measures for the Administration of Hazardous Chemicals Safe Use Permit (last revised in 2017);
3. Provisions on the Safety Management of Hazardous Chemical Transmission Pipelines (last revised in 2015);
4. Measures for the Safety Supervision and Administration of Hazardous Chemicals Construction Project (last revised in 2015).

The 4 draft revisions have been circulated in June of 2022 to emergency management administrations at various levels to solicit their comments and opinions. One very change is to update the competent authority from the “Sate Administration of Work Safety (SAWS)” to the “Ministry of Emergency Management (MEM)” since the SAWS was dismantled and replaced by the MEM in 2018. Other major changes that may have impact on chemical enterprises are summarized respectively as below.

Measures for the Administration of Hazardous Chemicals Safe Production Permit

• Clarifying that the HC Safe Production Permit for enterprises involving hazardous chemical processes, such as nitrification, chlorination, fluorination, diazotization, peroxide, must be issued by emergency management administrations at provincial level. Due to the high risk of these processes, the issuance of the permit shall not be entrusted to the emergency management administrations at the municipal or country level where the enterprises are located.
• Adding that the location, layout, planning and design of fine chemical enterprises, as well as the distance from important places, facilities and areas, shall comply with GB 51283 Fine protection standard for engineering design of fine chemical enterprise.
• Adding that the MEM shall verify the Hazchem Registration when enterprises apply for the HC Safe Production Permit.
• Adding that the electronic certificate of the HC Safe Production Permit is of the same legal effect as the physical certificate.
• Updating that the authority shall make a decision whether to grant the HC Safe Production Permit or not within 30 working days (original review period: 45 working days) upon receiving the application.

Measures for the Administration of Hazardous Chemicals Safe Use Permit

• Adding that the authority shall verify whether the enterprises having major hazard sources of hazardous chemicals have notified such hazard sources to the authority when they apply for the HC Safe Use Permit.
• Adding that the authority shall verify whether the enterprises have obtained the Safe Production Standardization Certificate at or above Level 2 when they apply for the extension of the HC Safe Use Permit.
• Updating that the authority shall make a decision whether to grant the HC Safe Use Permit or not within 30 working days (original review period: 45 working days) upon receiving the application.

Provisions on the Safety Management of Hazardous Chemical Transmission Pipelines

• Adding that a flammable and toxic gas leak detectors system shall be equipped for pipelines involving inflammable, explosive, toxic and hazardous chemicals in accordance with relevant standards and regulations, and the system shall keep functioning normally.

Measures for the Safety Supervision and Administration of Hazardous Chemicals Construction Project

• Adding that the construction projects involving hazardous chemical processes such as nitrification, chlorination, fluorination, diazotization, peroxide are subject to safety review by emergency management administrations at the provincial level.
• Adding that the MEM shall verify the approval of construction projects, the records and planning of such projects, and the registration of market entities.
• Adding that the construction unit shall submit the production (use) plan to emergency management administrations at the municipal level and country level where it is located before the trail production (use).
• Adding that the construction unit shall re-examine the trial production (use) plan if the trial period needs to be extended and report it to the authority.
• Updating that the emergency management administrations at all levels shall record the relevant information on the construction project via the Hazardous Chemical Registration Comprehensive Service System (https://whpdj.mem.gov.cn) within 30 days after completing the safety review.

Showing Ambition in Governance of Hazardous Chemicals

In 2022, except for revising the foregoing four regulations, the authority is actively engaged with promoting updates on many other related regulations and standards. To read three more updates, please [Read Full Content].