Team Nexreg

Chile and Colombia GHS update

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Both Chile and Colombia are moving forward with GHS initiatives in 2021. Each country is taking a different approach to their regulatory compliance (outlined below).

 

Chile

Chile’s Ministry of Health released Decree 57, Regulation on Classification, Labeling, and Notification of Hazardous Chemicals and Mixtures on February 9, 2021 which formally implements GHS labelling for chemical products, however some products such as cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and food additives—among others—are excluded from the GHS requirement.

Decree 57 does not reference a specific revision of the United Nation’s Purple Book, but does align with Revision 7 with some references to other revisions. The Ministry of Health is also expected to publish official substance classifications for Chile, and will not be adopting the following hazards:

  • Acute toxicity category 5
  • Skin irritation category 3
  • Subcategories 2A/2B for eye irritation, although eye irritation category 2 is adopted
  • Aspiration hazard category 2

The regulation will come into effect in four phases:

  • Substances for industrial use – February 9, 2022
  • Substances for non-industrial use – February 9, 2023
  • Mixtures for industrial use – February 9, 2025
  • Mixtures for non-industrial use – February 9, 2026

To date, the use of GHS labelling in Chile has been voluntary according to a number of national standards.

 

Colombia

Colombia released Decree No. 1496 in 2018 to implement GHS Revision 6 for substances and mixtures that met the criteria for at least one GHS hazard class, but Article 1 of the decree stipulated that the ministries that signed the decree (Ministries of Agriculture, Health, Industry, Labour, and Transport) would establish the implementation dates in their respective areas of responsibility. As a result, the Ministries of Health and Labour have released a joint resolution to define the responsibility of employers to implement GHS in the workplace.

Resolution 0773 by Which Actions to be Developed by Employers for the Application of the Globally Harmonized System (GHS) of Classification and Labeling of Chemical Products in the Workplace are Regulated and Other Provisions on Chemical Safety are Issued (or Resolution 0773/2021) adopts all hazard classes from GHS Revision 6 except for carcinogenicity, in which case classification must comply with the International Agency for Research of Cancer (IARC) criteria. Resolution 0773/2021 also stipulates that label sizes for containers should align with EU Regulation 1272/2008, and that components contributing to acute toxicity, skin corrosion or severe eye damage, reproductive toxicity, mutagenicity, carcinogenicity, specific target organ toxicity, or skin/respiratory sensitization must be identified on the label.

The resolution was up for consultation until April 30, 2021. Once approved, there will be a two-year transition period for pure substances and a three-year period for mixtures.

 

For more information or for assistance with your South American safety data sheets, Contact Nexreg today!