APEC Chemical Dialogue (CD)

Updates

The Chemicals Dialogue Regulators' Forum was held in Peru on 16 August 2016 and was attended by representatives from 15 economies. The Philippines reported its initiatives on the phaseout of Lead in Paints through Department Administrative Order 2013-24 "Chemical Control Order (CCO) for Lead and Lead Compounds." The CCO provides for a limit of less than 90 ppm of lead as a standard for paints. The phaseout was to be implemented starting 1 January 2017 for architectural, household and decorative paints and starting 1 January 2020 for Industrial paints. Also, an update of current activities were given:
- Amendment of the CCO for Cyanide and Cyanide Compounds incorporating the License to Store and License to Transport and Distribute
- Amendment of the CCO for Mercury and Mercury Compounds incorporating the mercury-added products listed in the Minamata Convention. The Philippines still has to ratify the Minamata Convention.
- Review and evaluation of the Code of Practice for Asbestos by the EMB Planning Technical Working Group
- Second public consultation of the Draft CCO for Arsenic and Arsenic Compounds and Chromium-VI

During the Globally Harmonized System (GHS) Meeting in August 2016, Ms. Emmanuelita Mendoza of DENR-EMB presented a case study on the Overview of the Regulatory Framework for GHS Implementation in the Philippines.

In 2017, the Philippines organized a self-funded APEC project under the Chemical Dialogue (CD) to promote sharing of best practices in chemical regulation. To carry forward that momentum, the project proposed a series of four follow-up technical webinars on specific issues of interest to workshop participants. The CD's Virtual Working Group on Regulatory Cooperation and Convergence (VWGRCC) circulated a survey for delegates to propose and prioritize potential webinar topics. The results from the survey indicated four main topics for webinars: (1) regulatory impact assessment; (2) evaluating comments received during public consultations; (3) principles-based regulation; and (4) tools for collecting exposure information.

The American Chemistry Council agreed to host the first webinar on regulatory impact assessments on 18 December 2018. The webinar discussed commitments made by APEC members on regulatory impact assessments and the need for assessments for crafting trade and investment friendly regulations and ensuring high levels of protection for human health and safety and the environment; how to do cost-benefit analyses; when to do an assessment and how industry stakeholders can contribute.

The APEC Ministers endorsed the CD's Virtual Working Group report on GHS implementation issues entitled "Developing Clarity and Consistency in the Implementation of the Globally Harmonized System for the Classification and Labelling of Chemicals" as an APEC contribution to the UN's Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM) in 2008. The Virtual Working Group developed the GHS Implementation Reporting Template to be used for regular reporting of GHS implementation progress. In 2018, Australia gave an update on the implementation of the GHS by APEC's 21 member economies. Of these, 11 economies submitted reports, and the Philippines submitted four of nine reports (2008/09 General Section; 2016, 2017 and 2018 Industry Section).

The Twenty-First Meeting of the Chemical Dialogue (CD21) was convened on 7 August 2018 in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea and was attended by representatives from 12 economies including government and industry representatives from the Philippines. The Philippines presented a mid-term review of the implementation of the Boracay Action Agenda. The initial assessment noted that most of the actions focused on Priority 6---Expand internationalization opportunities for micro and small enterprises providing goods and services through Information Communication Technology and e-commerce and Priority 7---Strengthen institutional support for MSMEs, but work remains to be done on Priority 3---Provide timely and accurate information on export and import procedures and requirements, Priority 4---Widen the base of Authorized Economic Operators (AEO) and trusted trader programs (TTP) to include SMEs in order for them to contribute to security, integrity and resiliency in supply chains, and Priority 5---Support measures to widen options on financing for MSMEs and further develop the infrastructure to facilitate lending to them. The 21st CD Meeting Government Co-Chair commended the Philippines for compiling the analysis and called on CD delegates to identify ways to contribute to the report.

On the issue on "Customs Practices for Industrial Chemicals," the Philippines noted that it was facing challenges with harmonizing customs requirements and recognized the importance of the development of a best practices document that it could use for internal capacity building of customs officers who supervised chemical inventories.