India Regulations on Imported Chemicals (Circular No. 15/2023) has taken effect since October 1, 2023. Originally, the regulation would take effect on July 1, 2023, but has been delayed to October 1. On September 30 2023, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs in India issued Circular No.23/2023, which made the following modifications to sections (4.1) and (4.2) of Circular No.15/2023

On September 13, India made the significant decision that it will enforce stringent quality regulations on various goods. This announcement will be published in the Gazette of India within four months after the conclusion of the WTO technical barriers to trade (TBT) consultation process. The announcement was made in accordance with the Bureau of Indian Standards Act (11 of 2016), and the Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals under the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers in India.

On September 13, 2023, the European Chemicals Agency's (ECHA) Enforcement Forum decided to make its advice on the enforceability of REACH restriction proposals public. It officially published its first advice on the proposal to restrict creosote and related substances in treated wood.

On August 10, 2023, the South Korean Ministry of Environment (MOE) published Notice No.2023-183 revising the volume of toxic, restricted, prohibited, and permitted substances in accordance with the Regulations on the Implementation of the Chemical Substance Management Act. The revision this time aims to enhance the management of chemicals and safeguard public health and the environment.

On August 25, 2023, the European Commission released the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/1656 amending Regulation (EU) No 649/2012. 35 chemicals (27 pesticides and 8 industrial chemicals) were added to Annex I of (EU)2023/1656. Currently, there are 295 entries in the Annex I.

On September 8, 2023, Japan's Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW), the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), and the Ministry of the Environment (MOE) jointly published a notice on the declaration schedule for the manufacturing and import of new chemical substances in 2024, bringing important information to industries in the chemical sector. In accordance with laws on chemical substance review and manufacturing, enterprises must make a declaration according to the regulations before manufacturing or importing new chemical substances to obtain relevant determination notice, so as to undergo review on the properties of the chemical substance.

On September 11, 2023, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) published the approval results of the eleventh batch of simplified registrations for new chemical substances in 2023.

In order to further improve certain shortcomings in the existing system, on August 25, 2023, the South Korean Ministry of Environment published Notice No. 2023-502 partially revising the Implementation Regulations of the Act on the Registration and Evaluation of Chemical Substances. This revision will come into effect on January 4, 2024.

In this article, CHEMTREC provides a snapshot of the complex emergency telephone number requirements around the world and points out the challenges of complying with ever-changing supply and transport requirements for emergency response provision.

On August 10, 2023, the Manufacturing Industries Bureau of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry officially published an announcement concerning three substances newly listed as prohibited substances at the eleventh meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Stockholm Convention (SC COP-11), as the Class I Specified Chemical Substances in the Chemical Substances Control Law.