India: Action Plan Calls for Inventories and Registration

The National Coordination Committee (NCC), a group established by the Indian Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), has worked out the framework for a chemicals law. It calls for the setup of a chemical inventory and a registration system and it should serve as the foundation of a future GHS.

The committee recommends a three-level path forward:

  1. Creation of a national chemicals inventory
  2. Analysis and assessment of the risks of the chemicals in the inventory
  3. Development of strategies to minimize risks

The chemicals inventory should list substances that are manufactured or imported in quantities of one ton or more per year. Companies should be able to enter data over an online portal made available by the ministry. The basic inventory of the database should include all 684 chemicals listed in the Manufacture, Storage, and Import of Hazardous Chemicals Rules (MSIHC).

CEFIC, the European chemicals association, has complied a country-specific overview of chemicals regulations in non-European countries, including India.

Right now, about 40 chemicals laws apply in India. That’s why the NCC recommends collating the various regulations, such as the MSIHC Rules and the Chemical Accidents Emergency Planning, Preparedness, and Response (CAEPPR). In the long term, a centralized superior agency, like the ECHA, should be established.

Further development of chemicals laws has repeatedly stagnated in the past because of changing
governments and reforms that have especially limited the development of the chemicals industry (German only).

In terms of production volume (see the GTAI Report as of May 2018, s. above, German only), India is the seventh-largest producer of chemicals in the world and the third largest in Asia. With its 15% share of the total exports of India, the chemicals industry is one of the most important export sectors in the country.

If you have any questions about the legal framework that applies in India, please contact us at reach@kft.de.

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