Ukraine: New chemicals law

Ukraine notified the adoption of the Law of Ukraine No 2804-IX “On Chemical Safety and Chemicals Management”. The Law was published on December 28, 2022, entered into force on the day following the day of its publication, namely on December 29, 2022 and will be enacted eighteen months after the date of entry into force of this Law, i.e. on June 29, 2024.

The new legislation takes inspiration from the EU CLP/REACH regulations and outlines stipulations for registration, permits, chemical safety, and labeling criteria.

The draft Law aims to create a regulatory framework for establishing a functional national system of chemical safety with the definition of clear powers, rights and responsibilities of government agencies, businesses, the general public, the introduction of modern approaches to chemical management and chemical safety, approximation and adaptation of national legislation to the legislation of the European Union. The draft Law provides the establishment of legal regulation of the management of chemical safety and chemical products. The mechanism for implementing the Law includes the introduction of new rules and requirements for:

setting goals of state policy in the field of chemical safety;
identification of sources of chemical safety threats;
introduction of chemical safety guarantees;
classification and standardization in the field of chemical safety;
functioning of the information system in the field of chemical safety;
production and handling of chemical products;
chemical safety plans and programs;
financial and economic instruments in the field of chemical safety;
education, research and information support in the field of chemical safety;
liability for violations of chemical safety legislation;
international cooperation in the field of chemical safety.

The Law is based on international regulations such as:

Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal
Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade
Stockholm Convention on persistent organic pollutions (POPs)

This comprehensive legislation draws its structure from the European Union’s CLP (Classification, Labeling, and Packaging) and REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorization, and Restriction) regulations. It delineates prerequisites for registration, permits, chemical safety assessments, and labeling criteria.

Articles 26, 37, 38 and 50 of the law specifically mention implementation of the Globally Harmonized System of Hazard Classification and Labeling of Chemical Products (GHS) into national legislation.

According to the new law, the label on the container for any chemical products which are considered hazardous under the criteria shall include the following elements:

Name, address and telephone number of the supplier;
Nominal amount of chemical products in the package;
Product identifier;
Hazard symbols;
Signal word;
Hazard statements;
Precautionary statements;
Additional information.

Article 40 of the law states that “a chemical substance that is produced, imported or put into circulation is subject to mandatory state registration.” The central executive body is responsible for conducting the state registration of chemical substances. State registration of a chemical substance is warranted when its annual total mass quantity in circulation by a distinct economic entity reaches 1 ton or more (either as a standalone entity or within an article). If a chemical substance has successfully undergone state registration by a preceding participant in the supply chain, subsequent business entities in the chain dealing with the same substance, whether as a standalone or in an article, are exempt from undergoing the state registration process themselves. To commence the State Registration procedure, an application accompanied by pertinent documentation needs to be submitted to the central executive body.

Implementation of this law brings Ukraine one step closer in its efforts to join the European Union.

The law is projected to enter into force on June 26, 2024.

The full text of the law is available under the following LINK.