Colombia Publishes Draft Chemical Management Framework for Public Comment

The Colombian Ministry of Health and Social Protection, Ministry of Labor, Ministry of Commerce, and the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development have published for public comment the draft decree establishing a new chemical management framework. A public comment period was held through 10 August 2020.

Verisk 3E Review
  
The draft decree proposes to establish a comprehensive chemical management system for those chemical substances that have been identified and classified as hazardous under the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS).

Article 4, Management Instruments for Chemical Substances for Industrial Use, provides that Colombia will develop a:

• national inventory of chemical substances for industrial use
• registry of substances for industrial use
• health or environmental risk evaluation in accordance to use
• reduction and management of risk program for health and the environment
• The proposed decree would also create a new agency that encompasses the Ministries of Health, Labor, Commerce, and Environment to oversee compliance and establish policies affecting industrial use chemicals, including national inventory, registration and risk evaluations (Articles 16 and 17).  

Highlights of the proposed decree include:

• inventory (Article 5) – a one-year window from entry into force for submitting details chemical substances produced or imported
• registry (Article 6) – a two-year period from the date of publication for ministries to develop rulemaking for the registry
• risk evaluations (Article 7) – for health and environment required for chemical substances not previously reported or for new use

Other elements of the framework include the requirement to undertake risk reduction and management programs (Articles 10, 11 and 12), and environmental monitoring (Article 14), and health effects monitoring (Article 15) of chemical substances for industrial use by the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development and the Ministry of Health and Social Protection, respectively.

Verisk 3E Analysis

Entities that manufacture, import, export, transport, distribute, label and package industrial use chemicals should be aware of the proposed changes in regulation.