This draft proposal was published by the Ministry of Environmental Protection in September 2011 for public consultation which had ended on 30 Oct 2011.

The Guidelines primarily specified the methods and procedures to identify the physical hazards, health hazards and environmental hazards of new chemical substances, as well as the regulatory requirements and classification methods of environmental management category.

It applies to the review and evaluation on new chemical hazard identification given by the Expert Evaluation Committee for China New Chemical Substance Notification (China NCSN) and self-risk assessments made by China NCSN notifiers.

Based mainly on the technical provisions in the Safety rules for classification, precautionary labeling and precautionary statements of chemicals (GB 20567 – GB 20599, GB 20601 and GB 20602), the regulatory requirements for new chemical substance notification and data evaluation provided in the 2010 New Chemical Substance Notification Guidance Document, the Guidelines make the following revisions and additions:

• Revising and expanding the applicable scope;

• Incorporating some normative references;

• Adding and annulling several terminologies;

• Adjusting the general principles;

• Adjusting and partly revising the physical-chemical properties assessment, toxicology assessment and eco-toxicology assessment, which have been included in the hazard identification section of the Guidelines;

• Adding classification rules for the environmental management category of new chemical substances.