On May 6, 2025, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment of China issued Announcement No. 9 of 2025, declaring updates to the Inventory of Existing Chemical Substances in China through additions and changes in usage. This adjustment aims to further optimize the environmental management of chemical substances and implement the requirements of the Measures for the Environmental Management Registration of New Chemical Substances (Order No. 12 of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment). The details of the updates are provided in the following annexes:
Annex 1
Additions to the Inventory of Existing Chemical Substances in China (1st batch of 2025, 13th batch overall)
Annex 2
Newly registered chemical substances added to the Inventory of Existing Chemical Substances in China (1st batch of 2025, 15th batch overall)
Annex 3
Changes to the permitted uses list in the Inventory of Existing Chemical Substances in China (1st batch of 2025, 1st batch overall)
According to Annexes 1 and 2, a total of 44 chemical substances have been incorporated into the inventory. The Ministry emphasizes that by the end of 2025, all chemicals that have completed their regular declarations under the former Order No. 7 will be included in the inventory.
Industry Alert: Due Diligence Required Before Registration
Before registering new chemical substances, companies should verify whether the substance is new. If the substance is not listed in the IECSC, it is necessary to engage a professional agency to perform a confidential search to determine if it qualifies as a new chemical substance, thus avoiding wastage of resources.
Two Typical Cases:
Case 1: A company failed to conduct a search and erroneously declared a substance, already listed in the confidential section of the inventory, as a new substance, leading to wasted costs in testing, time, and human resources.
Case 2: Another company was able to halt its declaration process in time due to dynamic updates to the inventory, thereby reducing losses.
Conducting a search not only avoids futile declarations but also provides a basis for companies to address subsequent disputes. As the frequency of updates to the inventory increases, companies must stay alert and combine professional services to optimize compliance strategies.
This update is a crucial step by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment to strengthen the full lifecycle management of chemical substances, aiming to balance industry innovation with ecological safety. In the future, the dynamic adjustment mechanism of the inventory will be further refined to support the environmental risk prevention and control goals for chemical substances during the 14th Five-Year Plan period.
The complete IECSC can be freely accessed through ChemRadar.
Further Information
