Vietnam Draft Chemical Decree Due to Come into Force in September

Vietnam has set out details of the draft of its new chemical law in a submission to the WTO Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade. The law is expected to be adopted on 7 August and come into force in September.

The Draft Decree Detailing and Guiding a Number of Articles of Law on Chemicals has eight chapters and 39 articles covering chemical safety, registration and inspection.

This includes;

> updated lists of chemicals that are restricted or have registration requirements;

> a continued commitment to a national chemical inventory; and

> new reporting requirements.

It would replace the current law, which has been in place since 2007.

The document contains four appendices listing chemicals – together with their Cas numbers – in the following categories:

> those subject to conditional production;

> those subject to business restrictions;

> prohibited chemicals; and

> those that must be declared.

The four lists are shorter than before, partly to reduce duplication between them.