English version available!
Toxic Chemical Substance Control Act — “Taiwan TCSCA”
Taiwan has adopted the newly revised Toxic Chemical Substance Control Act (Taiwan TCSCA) on 11 Dec 2013 (Chemlinked news on 13 Dec 2013). Subsequently, the official English translation of the revised Toxic Chemical Substances Control Act has been issued for public reference.
Article 7(1) for new and existing chemical registration is a priority concern for the industry and will come into force one year after its promulgation, namely on 11 Dec 2014. As specified, existing chemicals manufactured or imported reaching a specific amount per year (expected as 0.1 tonne per year) should be registered. Step-wise implementation will be applied (Chemlinked news on 25 Oct). New chemical substances should be registered 90 days prior to manufacture or importation. Based on the tonnage band and usage information, three registration types will be applied, including standard registration, simplified registration, and low-quantity registration. Registration approval is contingent on a number of conditions and may require a number of compulsory handling restrictions to be implemented due to the potential of the substance subsequently being classified as Class 1 to 3 toxic chemical substances. For new chemical substances that possibly pose environmental risks or are hazardous to human health (Class 4), handling requirements and restrictions will also imposed and an exposure and risk assessment report should be submitted.
Joint registrants or early and late registrants of the same substance can utilize data already submitted by other registrants to avoid duplication of testing data. Cost sharing agreements are negotiated by the registrants, and the EPA will intervene to coordinate only on request.
The specific registration requirements concerning, tonnage band, data submission, exposure and risk assessments, joint registration, records keeping, revocation or cancellation of permitted registration, confidential information protection, etc. shall be fleshed out in the subordinate regulations and measures, which will be published for public consultation and hearing in the Q1 or Q2 in 2014.
