Chemical substances in the Inventory of Existing Chemical Substances in China (IECSC) consist of two parts. The first part contains chemical substances that have been produced, sold, processed, used, or imported within the territory of the P.R.C. before October 15, 2003. The second part contains chemical substances that are included in after October 15, 2003. Currently, there are more than 40,000 substances in the IECSC (2013). The Ministry of Ecology and Environment is responsible to update the IECSC.