India to have a National Action Plan for Chemicals by 2018
Global Business Briefing, November 2017
India’s Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) is proposing a National Action Plan for Chemicals (NAPC), the outline of which is yet to emerge clearly. This will take place within a World Bank-aided capacity building project for industrial pollution management.
As part of the plan, a national coordination committee (NCC), comprising experts with many years of experience in the chemical industry, ecology and toxicology, and senior officials from the central Pollution Control Board (PCB), has been set up. It is entrusted with seeking input from industry representatives in India’s main chemical clusters in Ankleshwar, Vapi, Mahad and Visakhapatnam, to capture their views and concerns. According to a senior official of the Indian Chemical Council (ICC), industry opinion will be sought on such vital topics as:
- the current needs of the industry;
- the effectiveness of existing regulations and their implementation;
- classification, labelling and packaging (CLP) guidelines for chemicals; and
- the integration of similar regulations.
To this end, NCC members conducted a series of dialogues with industry in early June. The input obtained is now being drafted into a report containing ‘recommendations and priorities for action’. The MoEF&CC is expected to disseminate the draft by January 2018.
The final report, expected by March 2018, will be discussed at a national-level stakeholder workshop, involving industry associations, government organisations and NGOs. The NAPC will address other important issues, such as:
- revisions to existing regulations;
- registration of chemicals within a policy framework;
- a gradual phase-out of chemicals in the short and longer term, based on hazards posed to human health and the environment; and,
- boosting the infrastructure of chemical analysis in laboratories, to obtain information on the effects of chemicals on users.
In addition, the expert committee will also provide suggestions to the ministry on how best India can meet the requirements of multilateral agreements like the Stockholm and Rotterdam Conventions, prior informed consent for persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and certain hazardous chemicals and pesticides, respectively.
Speaking on this subject, Dr DD Basu, a member of the NCC, told Chemical Watch that it is updating information on the chemical industry and markets in India. This will take account of increased production volumes, volumes of imports and exports, types of chemicals being produced and where, and so forth.
He was critical of the performance of small chemical manufacturing companies and argued that they "should stop production since they lack the resources to control pollution". Since industrial pollution has assumed alarming proportions in India, especially in the chemical clusters, his displeasure seems justified, but given that the majority of the Indian chemicals companies are SMEs, his suggestion is unlikely to be taken seriously.
On the development of a chemicals databank with inter-ministerial cooperation and sharing of information, also a part of the action plan, Dr Basu reiterated the well-known constraint that has plagued India for so long - that individual ministries have their own list(s) of chemicals. "Since these lists exist in isolation, there is no single national inventory or database of chemicals in India," he said.
However, Dr Basu noted that India is slowly moving to put its house in order in line with the global requirements for eliminating or gradually phasing out hazardous chemicals with safer substitutes. For example, most azo dyes are banned in India under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. Certain pesticides are also banned.
The NAPC, apart from addressing chemical management, will also target workplace-related issues and concerns, based on human health safety and environmental protection. At present, there is no rule that stipulates any exposure limits of industrial chemicals, petrochemicals or volatile solvents for the workforce or the general public. Section 41(f) of the draft Factories Act of 2015, released by Ministry of Labour and Employment (MoLE), relates to the permissible limits of exposure to chemicals and toxic substances in the manufacturing process. However, these have not yet been defined and made available to the public.
There are reports that the government is considering a digital platform, in which any company producing chemicals must provide certain details like the Cas number, chemical name, tonnage manufactured or imported and other basic information. This will lead to the creation of a dynamic inventory that can be continually updated. There was also strong support among the NCC members for making the completed inventory public.
The NAPC is not related to the draft National Chemical Policy being developed by the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers (MoC&F). The two will be independent policy documents, until the two ministries can agree to cooperate, engage in data sharing and bring out a combined chemical database. The present situation, however, typifies the confused state of Indian chemical regulation (see box).
Experts in the field agree that any future chemical action plan or policy should be governed not by a single ministry, but an independent body, free from ministerial interference. This could include industry representatives, chemical regulations experts and NGOs. There was a suggestion from Dr Basu that the large chemical corporations should also fund this body to carry out independent research that can be used by the entire chemical industry.
There is a lot of interest among other countries in understanding the existing or future chemical regulatory landscape in India. This could help the country immensely in their plans for market expansion. Domestic manufacturers are also keen to know what regulations shall be enforced, to prepare accordingly. The NAPC promises to clarify many issues on which there is currently ambiguity.
At a conference held in Ahmedabad in August on Responsible Care, NS Babu, director and head of environment, sustainability and regulatory issues at the ICC, said that many Indian companies have been expressing a keen interest in being a part of the initiative and were requesting ICC guidance. This suggests that the chemical industry is willing to change and embrace responsible product stewardship.
Indeed, more generally, there has been a shift in the industry’s mindset in the past five years towards becoming more responsible entrepreneurs, partly due to the regulatory requirements of export markets but also growing awareness of chemical hazards. A robust national action plan for chemicals might just be the answer for India’s long awaited national chemical inventory, coupled with an effective regulatory system to make a vibrant chemical industry, while ensuring the safety of human health and environment.
Background: India’s chemical industry
The Indian chemical industry ranks the third largest in Asia and sixth in the world by output. It includes basic chemicals and their intermediates, petrochemicals, fertilisers, paints, pesticides, bulk drugs and pharmaceuticals, and is one of the most diversified industrial sectors, covering more than 70,000 commercial products.
Gujarat and Maharashtra are the two states where the majority of the chemical industries, including small, medium, and large enterprises, are concentrated. Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and West Bengal also have some chemical industry presence.
The Narenda Modi government has been promoting the ‘Make in India’ initiative since 2015. ‘Make in India’ seeks to attract investors to the country though factors that make India a good location for them:
- All foreign direct investment is permitted through the ‘automatic route’, under which investors do not need prior approval; however, they do have to inform the Reserve Bank of India about the amount invested within a stipulated timeframe and, of course, the investment remains subject to all the applicable regulations and laws;
- The chemicals sector is de-licensed, except a few hazardous chemicals;
- Upcoming petroleum, chemicals and petrochemicals investment regions (PCPIR) and plastic parks will provide state-of-the-art infrastructure for the sector;
- Trade in most of the chemicals is unrestricted, except for those subject to international conventions; and
- The polymers and agrochemicals industries in India present immense growth opportunities. The chemical sector has seen growth of 13-14%/year in the last five years, while petrochemicals registered a growth of 8-9% over the same period.
This can be attributed to such factors as:
- Robust domestic consumption, owing to the Indian chemical industry being the largest consumer of its own output, consuming 33% of the total;
- A diversified manufacturing base, producing world class products, according to the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI);
- Structural advantage with growing disposable incomes and increasing urbanisation, thus fuelling demand for a variety of chemicals; and
- Promising export potential, especially for dyes, agrochemicals and pharmaceuticals.
Rules governing chemicals in India
In a large country like India, with its diverse spectrum of chemical manufacturing and consumption, formulating legislation is not an easy task. In all, 15 Acts and 19 Rules have been laid down for chemical management. These can be classified into laws related to:
- Chemical imports and exports;
- Manufacturing of chemicals;
- Transportation of chemicals;
- Consumers’ use of chemicals; and
- Protecting the environment and public health.
The most important Acts and Rules governing chemicals in India are the following:
- Explosives Act;
- Petroleum Act;
- Factories Act;
- Drugs and Cosmetics Act;
- Prevention of Food Adulteration Act;
- Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act;
- Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act;
- Motor Vehicles Act;
- Public Liability Insurance Act;
- Environment (Protection) Act;
- Manufacture, Storage and Import of Hazardous Chemicals Rules;
- Hazardous Waste (Management, Handling and Trans-boundary) Rules;
- Ozone-depleting Substances (Regulation and Control) Rules;
- Batteries (Management and Handling) Rules;
- Draft Hazardous Substances (CLP) Rules; and
- E-waste (Management and Handling) Rules
These rules have evolved from being industry focussed to the focus in recent years being on preventing damage to the environment and human health.
Multiple ministries formulate relevant acts and rules specific to their domain. Important ministries associated with chemical production, use, transport and safeguarding human health and the environment from the hazards posed by chemicals include:
- MoC&F;
- MoEF&CC;
- Ministry of Commerce and Industry;
- MoLE; and
- Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
It is the MoEF&CC, in close coordination with the central PCB and state PCBs, which enforces rules for chemical pollution control.
Multiple regulations currently govern different chemicals in India. For example, insecticides and pesticides have to be registered with the Central Insecticide Board and Registration Committee, by providing data related to the properties of the chemical and its effect on human health and the environment.
However, there is no such requirement for industrial or speciality chemicals. No umbrella regulation is in place that seeks to create an inventory of all the chemicals in commerce, or impose a mandate on the manufacturer of chemicals to provide hazard data to a central agency.
For more India news and resources please click here for our new page on AsiaHub dedicated to chemicals management in India
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