Transportation of Highly Toxic Chemicals is Completely Prohibited in Yangtze River Basin

Yangtze River Protection Law of the People’s Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as Protection Law) has been implemented from 1 Mar. 2021.

The Protection Law consists of nine chapters, including the General Provisions, Planning and Control, Resources Protection, Water Pollution Prevention and Control, Eco-environmental Modification, Green Development, Security and Supervision, Legal Liability and Supplementary Provisions, with a total of 96 articles.

The Yangtze River Basin under the Protection Law refers to the catchment area formed by main stream, tributaries and lakes of the Yangtze River, involving dozens of provinces, autonomous regions and related county-level divisions, including Jiangxi Province, Anhui Province, Jiangsu Province, Shanghai, Guangdong Province, Zhejiang Province, etc.

In accordance with Item 2, Article 51 of the Protection Law, the transportation of highly toxic chemicals and other hazardous chemicals that cannot be transported in inland waterways under national standards are prohibited in Yangtze River.

Based on Regulations on Safe Management of Hazardous Chemicals and Inventory of Hazardous Chemicals Prohibited in Inland Waterways, prohibited chemicals include:

1.Chemicals that are marked as highly toxic in Catalog of Hazardous Chemicals (2015 version);

2. Chemicals that meet the definition of highly toxic chemicals in Catalog of Hazardous Chemicals (2015 version);

3. 228 hazardous chemicals listed in Inventory of Hazardous Chemicals Prohibited in Inland Waterways (2019 revision) that are completely prohibited to transport in inland waterways, either in package or in bulk; other 85 hazardous chemicals in Inventory of Hazardous Chemicals Prohibited in Inland Waterways (2019 revision) are not allowed to be transported in bulk, yet can still be transported in package (such as steel cylinders, TANK, portable tank and containers);

In terms of mixtures:

1) Mixtures that are classified as highly toxic under GB 30000.18-2013 are prohibited from transportation;

2) In accordance with the screening principles under Inventory of Hazardous Chemicals Prohibited in Inland Waterways (2019 revision), mixtures that containing substances prohibited from transportation meeting one of the following circumstances cannot be transported:

• Unstable explosives;
• Containing ammonium chlorate (CAS: 10192-29-7), perchloric acid (CAS: 10192-29-7) with concentration higher than 72%, methyl nitrite (CAS:624-91-9), zinc ammonium nitrite (CAS:63885-01-8), nitric acid ammonium salt (CAS: 6484-52-2) containing combustible ≤0.2% which is easy to self-heat and sufficient to trigger its decomposition;
• Classified as Aquatic Acute 1(H400) or Aquatic Chronic 1 (H410);

Enterprises that violate the above mentioned requirements will be imposed a fine of not less than 200,000 Yuan but not more than 2 million Yuan; in severe cases, enterprises may be ordered to suspend business for rectification or relevant licenses may be revoked.

Related enterprises must pay attention that Shanghai Maritime Safety Administration has clearly declared that from 1 Mar. 2021, highly toxic chemicals as well as other hazardous chemicals that are prohibited from transportation in inland waterways are not allowed to sail in or transit in Shanghai section of the Yangtze River. Meanwhile, docks located in the Shanghai section of Yangtze River, including docks within the administrative area of Pudong Maritime Safety Administration, Chongming Maritime Safety Administration, Wusong Maritime Safety Administration and Baoshan Maritime Safety Administration.

Related enterprises may check whether their substances are prohibited from transportation in Yangtze River through our free APCISS system.

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Reference:

Yangtze River Protection Law of the People’s Republic of China

Shanghai Maritime Safety Administration’s Notice on the Prohibition of Transportation of Highly Hazardous Chemicals in Shanghai Section of Yangtze River