GLOBAL VIEW


Tighter rules


Charlotte Niemiec writes for Chemical Watch and specialises in Asia’s chemical industry


Taiwan


Taiwan is beginning to tighten the rules and crack down on non-compliant chemical companies


I


For companies, the Toxic Chemical Substances Control Act has been far from straight- forward – 11 government agencies are involved in administering 11 laws regulating over 27,000 major chemicals


n 2009, the government of Taiwan passed the Toxic Chemical Substances Control Act (TCSCA), described as a ‘triple win’ for environmentalists, businesses and


legislators. For the first time, the industry was required to start compiling and submitting information on chemicals, similar to the EU’s REACH regulation. Since then, the country has made


considerable progress. After the preliminary ‘data gathering’ phase from September 2015 to March 2016, where companies submitted basic information such as the name of the chemical and its use, the government reviewed 170,490 chemicals in a matter of months. Of these, 122 chemicals have been marked as a priority for registration and a list of these will be published before the end of 2017. Chemicals on this list must be registered in full before they can be used, which involves conducting a full risk assessment on the chemical and submitting a comprehensive dossier to the authorities. For companies, however, the TCSCA has been far from straightforward – 11 government agencies are involved in administering 11 laws regulating over 27,000 major chemicals. Companies have struggled to register chemi- cals with two separate ministries, the Ministry of Labour and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Both are responsible for chemicals management, but require different informa- tion on the same chemical. The result? Confu- sion, bureaucracy and, occasionally, dangerous chemicals slipping through the net and into the public sphere.


This issue came to the fore during a series of


food safety scandals in Taiwan and neighbour- ing China. The most significant of these was the discovery in 2008 that some milk and infant formulas sold in the two countries were laced with melamine. The organic base of cyanide, melamine gives milk the appearance of having a higher protein content. The scandal broke initially in China, but six babies in Taiwan were reported to develop problems after the adulterated products were imported into the country. Babies in both coun- tries began to develop kidney stones and other kidney problems, leading to the hospitalisation of 54,000 and the deaths of six babies in China. The World Health Organization (WHO) dubbed the incident one of the largest food safety events in recent years.


In another case, inspectors found that some


household and commercial pepper products sold in Taiwan contained industrial-grade magnesium carbonate (MgCO3 Although food-grade MgCO3


). is safe for


human consumption, versions intended for industrial applications, while cheaper to purchase, may contain large amounts of heavy metals such as arsenic or lead, which affect the liver and kidneys. Throw in the ‘gutter oil’ and ‘industrial dye’ scandals of 2014, and the result has been public outrage and calls for the government to up its game on food safety. Such events have been the catalyst behind


tougher laws and the formation of a new Toxic and Chemical Substances Bureau. Originally set up in 2016 to take control of food safety, the bureau’s brief has since grown to encompass toxic chemicals more generally. It is now responsible for ‘point of origin’ control over chemicals, particularly in food, and will take on the main responsibility for assessing and regulating toxic chemicals. Until now, regulating the point of origin has been all but impossible because of the glut of agencies and laws, according to Chen Man-li of the leading Democratic Progressive Party. The authorities have had little information on producers or importers of chemicals, or how these chemicals are being used downstream, or whether chemicals used for industrial applications are instead being used in the food industry.


With a US$28m budget for its first year


of operation, the bureau will attempt to answer these questions, aided by the stricter registration requirements. Helpfully, it will also be a central agency to coordinate the efforts of all others involved in chemicals management. The DPP’s Wu Kun-yu says the bureau marks a ‘new page’ in the history of Taiwan’s regulation of chemicals. And it’s not just food in the spotlight, as


surveillance on other industries using chemicals is also being stepped up. The government will soon require all chemicals used as raw materials in other industries to be registered for use. These include pesticides, medicines, cosmetics, food additives, tobacco products and alcohol. Any chemical, in any volume, that is found to be carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic to reproduction – CMR substances – must be fully registered with no exceptions.


44 10 | 2017


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