Chile’s decree to enforce the UN’s GHS, develop a national inventory of industrial chemicals, and construct a risk assessment process for priority substances has been published in the country’s Official Journal.

Chile’s legal review body approved the decree on 11 January, and it was published in the journal on 9 February.

With the publication of the decree, Chile becomes the first Latin American country to complete the initial implementation of an inventory and chemicals management scheme.

The proposal applies the Globally Harmonized System (GHS), which the country currently does not use for chemical classification and labeling. The majority of the articles in the decree relating to the GHS’s seventh revised edition, which was published in 2017.

It also lays the foundation for other aspects of a chemicals management framework, such as creating an inventory and a risk assessment process for priority substances.

It refers to manufacturers and importers of hazardous substances and mixtures for industrial and non-industrial uses, such as consumer goods, that produce more than one tonne. Articles are excluded from this rule.

The following timeline will govern the implementation of this regulation:

• Substances for industrial use—one year after publication on 9 February 2022

• Substances of non-industrial use—two years after publication on 9 February 2023

• Mixtures for industrial use—four years after publication on 9 February 2025

• Mixtures of non-industrial use—six years after publication on 9 February 2027

It’s worth noting that the chemical registration implementation dates are two years from the above-mentioned effective dates:

• 9th February 2024, The Substances for industrial use

• 9th February 2027, The Mixtures for industrial use

• 9th February 2025, The Substances of non-industrial use

• 9th February 2029, The Mixtures of non-industrial use

At least five other Latin American countries – Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru – are also working on developing chemical regulation.