On December 23, 2023, Turkey officially announced to extend the KKDIK registration deadline of December 31, 2023, by up to seven years, between 2026 and 2030 depending on the tonnage band and the hazard classification. Earlier in November, a draft text proposed to gradually extend the KKDIK registration deadlines was submitted to the NGO.

On December 18, 2023, China's Ministry of Ecological Environment (MEE) announced the addition of a batch of 25 registered substances that fulfill the requirements of existing substances into the Inventory of Existing Chemical Substances in China (IECSC). CIRS warmly reminds you that related enterprises must make sure whether their substances are existing substances. The Provisions on Environmental Administration of New Chemical Substances (MEE Order 12) require enterprises to complete new substance registration/record before manufacturing or importing, or they may face various punishments.

China’s chemical inventory of existing chemical substances is IECSC, which stands for the Inventory of Existing Chemical Substances Produced or Imported in China (IECSC). There are two parts of IECSC, public part and classified/confidential part. Companies can check out the public part by themselves and shall only enquire Authorities for classified/confidential part. If substances are not listed in the public part, companies have to submit a formal enquiry to SCC to check whether a substance is listed in the confidential part. The enquiry costs 3000 RMB.

On December 18, 2023, China's Ministry of Ecological Environment (MEE) announced the addition of a batch of 4 registered substances that fulfill the requirements of existing substances into the Inventory of Existing Chemical Substances in China (IECSC). Earlier on October 10, 2023, these four substances are released for public consultations.

On November 28, 2023, Japan's Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and Ministry of Environment jointly announced that the cabinet has approved the partial amendment to the Chemical Substance Control Law (CSCL).

On November 28, 2023, Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry announced that the cabinet has approved the partial amendment to the Act on Preventing Environmental Pollution of Mercury. It aims to respond to the Fourth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Minamata Convention on Mercury, where new regulations for specified mercury-containing products were established. Act on Preventing Environmental Pollution of Mercury mainly aims to regulate the mining of mercury and the manufacturing of mercury-containing products to prevent environmental pollution.

The United States Congress has proposed to amend a bill, adding substances including PFAS, ortho-phthalates, bisphenols, styrene, and antimony trioxide as unsafe for use in food contact materials. As an increasing number of states have enacted their own regulations on food safety, the House of Representatives has proposed to introduce an Act cited as the “No Toxic in Food Packaging Act of 2023” on October 26. The Act aims to federally prohibit the use of certain compounds in Food Contact Materials(FCMs). Notably, there is an overlap with restrictions outlined in the previously introduced U.S. Plastic Act. After several rounds of intense debate, the Congress ultimately decided to designate the following substances deemed unsafe for use as food contact substances in the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act which comes into effect two years after the date of enactment of this Act.

On October 19, 2023, the initial planning regarding the KKDIK was initiated during the assessment meeting organized by the General Directorate of Environmental Management Chemicals Management Department within the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization, and Climate Change. The draft text prepared in the weeks following the meeting was presented to NGOs. According to the draft submitted to NGOs by the Ministry on November 14, 2023, the KKDIK Regulation deadlines will be gradually extended depending on tonnage and classification.

On November 13,2023, China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) released the approval results of the 14th batch of simplified registrations for new chemical substances in 2023. In accordance with the Open Government Information Regulation of the People’s Republic of China (Order No. 711 of the State Council), MEE hereby publishes the approval results of the 14th batch of simplified registrations for new chemical substances.

Recently, the Department of Climate Change, Energy, Environment, and Water Resources (DCCEEW) in Australia proposed to include several brominated flame retardant chemicals in the Industrial Chemicals Environmental Management Standards (IChEMS) register. Substances that may cause serious or irreversible harm to the environment but have essential industrial uses are proposed to be included in Appendix 6 of IChEMS while substances causing serious or irreversible harm to the environment and without essential industrial uses are included in Appendix 7 of IChEMS.