On January 5, 2024, Chile issued the drafted resolution on the approval of the procedures for prioritizing the chemicals and assessing their risks, aiming to ensure the safety use of chemicals and the protection of human health and the environment.
In the following are the procedures for prioritizing the chemicals and assessing their risks:
The procedure specifies criteria for chemicals that will be evaluated for their risks to human health and the environment. The criteria include the hazard classification of a chemical, its annual volume of import and manufacture, and the intended use, as shown in the following tables.
Table 1. Based on the hazard to the human health and the environment, chemicals shall be scored and classified as follows:
| Classification | Low | Medium | High | ||||||
| Health hazard/score | 1 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 12 |
|
Respiratory allergy/ |
Category 1B | Category 1A | |||||||
| Mutagenicity in germ cells | Category 2 | Category 1B | Category 1A | ||||||
| Carcinogenicity | Category 2 | Category 1B | Category 1A | ||||||
| Reproductive toxicity | Category 2 | Lactation | Category 1B | Category 1A | |||||
| Specific target organ toxicity/single exposure | Category 3 | Category 2 | Category 1 | ||||||
| Specific target organ toxicity/repeated exposure | Category 2 | Category 1 | |||||||
| Acute aquatic toxicity |
Category 1 | ||||||||
| Chronic aquatic toxicity |
Category 4 | Category 3 | Category 2 | Category 1 | |||||
Table 2: based on the annual import or manufacture volume of a chemical:
| Classification | Low | Medium | |
| Substance Use/score | 1 | 3 | 5 |
| Intended use of this chemical | Industrial | Professional | Household |
If a chemical is classified to different categories, a higher score value will be prioritized (see Table 1). If a chemical meet any of the hazard classifications specified in Table 1, then this chemical shall be further classified based on the Table 2 and Table 3.
After classification, a total score of this chemical will be calculated. Chemicals scoring 15 will be identified as the prioritized chemicals in Chile. If chemicals not exceed 15 scores, then chemicals scoring 13 will be identified as the prioritized chemical by the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Health.
ChemRadar Insights:
This procedure is used to identify chemical risks and assess their risks to human health and the environment. Importers or manufacturers of chemicals are required to conduct a risk assessment and submit the results within 18 months upon receiving a notification from the Ministry of Environment. The risk assessment must be conducted and supervised by professionals.
This drafted resolution aims to regulate chemical management and reduce the potential hazard to human health and the environment. Public comments can be submitted within 60 days after this notification.
Further Information
https://docs.wto.org/dol2fe/Pages/SS/directdoc.aspx?filename=s:/G/TBTN24/CHL671.pdf&Open=True
