Thailand - Hazardous Substance Act vs Chemical Substance Act

Thailand published the 1st draft of the “Chemical Substance Act B.E. ….” which will replace the currently effective Hazardous Substance Act and its amendments (B.E. 2562, latest update 30th April 2019) and a public hearing took place on 26 April 2019.

The draft covers the entire chemical life cycle – from manufacturing, importation, exportation, transportation, transit, re-import, re-export, to processing, sale, distribution, use, treatment, and disposal of chemical substances and mixtures, as well as to recycling.

One of the most significant changes is the amendment of the chemical classification system. At present, chemicals are categorized into Type 1-4 Hazardous Substances. According to the Chemical Substance Act in its current version, in future the Chemical Assessment Committee will classify chemicals present in the “Thailand Chemical Inventory” according to their risks posed to health and environment, and divide them into 3 lists:

• List 1: Enterprises must comply with criteria and conditions impacting production, import, export, possession, transit, re-import, re-export, sale, transportation, disposal or recycling issued by competent authority. This includes the current “low-risk chemicals” with regards to health and environment;
• List 2: Enterprises must obtain permissions from competent authority. This includes the “high-risk chemicals” with regards to health and environment;
• List 3: All activities are prohibited. However, certain chemicals, such as those used for research and development purposes, or chemicals where contamination at use is unavoidable but that are less dangerous may be exempted.

Issued license/ permits for List 2 chemicals will be valid for no longer than 6 years. Enterprises whose licenses are revoked cannot submit license applications for 5 years from the date the licenses were cancelled.

For any new chemical which is not listed in the country’s chemical inventory a new request to evaluate/ assess the new chemicals must be submitted prior to commencing any kind of activity related to this substance.

Under the current Hazardous Substance Act, only Type 2 and 3 Hazardous Substances are required to be registered. In contrast, every substance will need to be registered under the proposed Chemical Substance Act. The Hazardous Substance Act is being effective until the Chemical Substance Act is approve.

The 1st draft of Chemical Substance Act B.E. … is available in Thai language here.