All around the world
Countries in the Middle East and Africa are gradually tightening chemical regulation . Dr Andrew Warmington reports from a recent Chemical Watch conference
When Chemical Watch held its latest ‘ Regulatory Updates : Middle East , Eurasia & Africa ’ conference back in February , it was a different world . Since then , Russia ’ s invasion of Ukraine and the consequent suspension of most business there by the global chemicals industry means that updates on regulation in the Eurasian Union ’ s largest market are rather academic . Even so , regulation is still developing in many markets . Turkey , with KKDIK or ‘ Turkey REACH ’ has probably come furthest in replicating the gold standard that is EU REACH . In other parts of the world , as multiple consultants outlined , the picture is rather harder to generalise about . The relatively advanced countries in the Middle East are Saudi Arabia and Israel , with Pakistan rapidly catching up , said Michael Wenk , principal and director of M4 Global Consulting . Most other countries have a chemical management programme in place , but these three are the ones with the most important recent updates . “ Generally speaking , the Middle Eastern countries manage chemical substances by a system of licences and permits ,” Wenk said . “ This differs quite a bit from the US , the EU and many Asia-Pacific countries , where ‘ positive lists ’ and / or national inventories are common .” As a result , chemicals management programmes in the Middle East are often “ haphazard and inconsistent ,” Wenk observed . It means that a considerable duplication of efforts is needed to have the same substance approved in different markets .
Trading blocs exist in the Middle East , most obviously the Gulf Cooperation Council ( GCC ), comprising Saudi Arabia , the UAE , Qatar , Oman , Kuwait and Bahrain . While parallels can be drawn between the GCC and the EU or Mercosur , however , it is a long way from being identical in how it functions .
GSH in GCC
Each GCC member country must transpose any new GCC law into its own national laws . However , this process can take over three years and there are still diverging national and even regional regulatory systems , particularly in Saudi Arabia , where two regions have their own chemical inventory and registration systems in place . Those working there must beware of thinking that by complying with federal regulations they have done enough .
Saudi Arabia has some of the more complex chemical regulations in the Middle East
In October 2019 , the GCC Standards Organisation proposed that the GCC adopt the Globally Harmonised System of Classification & Labelling ( GHS ), based on the 5th Revision of the ‘ Purple Book ’. The draft standard adopts the same GHS classification criteria and building blocks as the EU CLP regulation . In addition , it plans to adopt the mandatory GHS classification list in Annex VI of the CLP regulation and support the use of specific concentration limits . Saudi Arabia intends to use the standard 16-section safety data sheet ( SDS ). This should be written and provided in both Arabic and English , as should the labels . Similar to EU CLP regulation , a maximum of six precautionary statements can appear on the label , unless more are needed due to the severity of the hazards . Unusually , it is specified that each hazard pictogram must cover at least
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