China GHS was first proposed in the UN Sustainable Conference-WSSD, and fully implemented GHS for all hazardous substances and mixtures from 1 May 2011. It is required companies who import, produce or handle hazardous chemicals in China to update SDS, Label, 24h emergency response telephone number according to the related national standards, and to correctly classify the hazards which all standards are fully aligned with UN GHS Rev. 4. Penalties could be imposed to company for the incompliance from 1 May 2011.
National standard (GB standard) in China gives detail obligations:
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China GHS Standard |
classification | • Mandatory classification for substances in the Catalogue of Hazardous Chemicals;
• GB 30000.2-29-2013 Safety rules for classification and labelling of chemicals (28 standards); • GB 13690 gives general rules (GB 30000.1 Safety rules for classification of chemicals – general principle being drafted to replace GB 13690) |
| Safety Data sheets | • GB/T 17519-2013 Guidance on the compilation of safety data sheet for chemical products;
• GB/T 16483-2008 Safety data sheet Content and order of 16 sections; |
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| Labelling | • GB/T 15258-2009 General rules;
• GB 30000.30 Safety rules for classification and labelling of chemicals – workplace labelling (being drafted); |
Compulsory GHS Classification in China
For chemicals listed in the Catalogue of Hazardous Chemicals, the State Administration of Work Safety (SAWS) has published harmonized chemical classifications of those chemicals. Industry must use the classifications given in the guidance as lowest classification to classify their chemicals and prepare SDSs and labels.
For the rest chemicals not listed in the Catalogue of Hazardous Chemicals, shall follow the 28 compulsory chemical classification standards (GB 30000.2-2013 to GB 30000.29-2013 Safety rules for classification and labeling of chemicals) .
Safety Data Sheets (SDSs)
China published two SDS standards: GB/T 16483-2008 Safety data sheet Content and order of sections and GB/T 17519-2013 Guidance on the compilation of safety data sheet for chemical products. The format of China GHS SDS is almost harmonized to the SDS required by UN GHS, which is a 16 section, GHS-format SDS
China GHS also has its own requirements of mandatory to include China local 24h emergency telephone number and for the language that must be prepared in simplified Chinese.
Chinese GHS Labels
China published GB 15258-2009, gives the general rules for label preparation. It has set detailed requirements on the content and format of chemical labels. Below China GHS label example gives the label elements required and also additional requirements on language, 24h emergency telephone number, and label dimensions, etc.