Chemicals management in South America:
an overview

Even though Latin American countries are lagging behind the EU countries in terms of chemicals management and circular economy, some countries are pushing ahead with chemicals legislation, including Brazil, Colombia, Chile and Peru. Please note that all linked articles are only available in the respective national language.

Brazil

On April 24, the Brazilian Senate Committee on Science, Technology, Innovation and Informatics (CCT) presented a draft law, PL 6120/2019, (in Portuguese) on chemicals management, thus creating the basis for the upcoming chemicals regulation (Brazil REACH). The bill will now be reviewed by the Senate Environment Committee and the Social Affairs Committee before being approved by the President. Once the law comes into force, companies will have three years to register their substances.

In July 2023, the Brazilian Institute of Technical Standards (ABNT) published the GHS standard ABNT NBR 14725:2023. Brazil is thus adopting the requirements of GHS Rev. 7 (Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals, GHS). The new standard will come into force on July 4, 2025.

Argentina

The draft law for a national chemicals law from 2019 is still in force, as is "Resolution 504" from November 2022, which contains a national list of existing, controlled, restricted and banned chemical substances and products, and "Resolution 81" from October 2019 with a list of carcinogenic agents and substances. However, with President Javier Milei taking office in December 2023, further developments are more uncertain than ever.

With regard to classification, labeling and safety data sheets (SDS), Argentina follows GHS Rev.5. "Resolution No. 801/2015" applies, which was later supplemented by "Resolution No. 3359/2015" and "Resolution No. 155/2016".

IRAM 41400 serves as a guideline for the creation of SDSs and IRAM 41401 for the labeling of substances. The labels must be created in Spanish.

Chile

The classification, labeling and notification of hazardous substances and mixtures is regulated in Decree 57/2021, supplemented by "Resolution 777/2021". The regulation is based on GHS Rev. 7. Decree 57 facilitates the classification of around 4,500 substances and is regarded as a minimum reference for manufacturers and importers. Among other things, the substance names, CAS numbers, classification criteria and limit values are listed.

Decree 60/2022 on the storage of hazardous substances is decisive for the creation of SDSs. Resolution 15/2023 (List of Dangerous Substances Subject to Import Process) is also important for importers.

Please note the following deadline: Importers and manufacturers of chemicals who supply products to Chile must report the hazardous substances used industrially by August of this year.

Colombia

Colombia is similarly advanced as Chile in terms of chemicals legislation. The legal framework is based on Decree 1496/2018, whose requirements are based on GHS Rev. 6. Decree 1630/2021 was published in November 2021 with the aim of creating a national inventory for industrial chemicals.

Accordingly, companies that manufacture or import substances classified as hazardous in quantities of more than 100 kg per year are obliged to provide certain information on these substances, including the CAS number, the annual production or import quantity, the GHS classification and information on use.

Companies that manufacture or import hazardous substances to Colombia must register them by May 31, 2025.

Resolution 0773/2021 provides the legal framework for substance labeling and the creation of SDSs.

Peru

Decree 1570 came into force in May 2023. This introduced a national register for chemical substances (RENASQ) and a procedure for the risk assessment of priority substances. The legal framework is currently being further developed to meet the GHS requirements.

We are very familiar with chemicals legislation in the countries of Latin America. If you have any questions, please contact us at sales@kft.de.