ASEAN Regulatory Cooperation Project (ARCP) in 2022

Since the inception of the ARCP initiative in 2015, the drive of ARCP initiatives and programmes is keeping its momentum in this region.

The activities of ARCP in 2022 included:

1. Two sessions of the mini webinar were organised to continue the ongoing industry capacity and capability-building efforts in sharing and enhancing knowledge on chemical management for the ASEAN community.
2. Annual ARCP workshop was held on 28 to 29 Nov 2022 as a hybrid session which continues to serve as an effective platform with an extended involvement from more than 200 representatives of Government from various Ministries and Statutory Boards as well as from the industry.
3. Progressive developments of the new ARCP guidance documents on New Substance Notification (NSN) and Chemical Risk Assessment (CRA). These will serve as useful guides to assist ASEAN members in the implementation of such chemical management regulations in their respective countries.
4. Progressive enhancement to the ARCP guidance document on GHS implementation alignment with addition of checklist on adopting new revision and the principles of implementing mutual acceptance. This will help the ASEAN member states (AMS) to drive the convergence approach of GHS implementation of GHS in this region.
5. ARCP organising committee brainstorming session on 30 Nov 2022 with core team members on the forward plan

ARCP Mini Webinars

Two sessions of the mini webinars were held in June and Sept respectively with the programme specially curated to focus on experience sharing on the practical approach of regulatory implementation. It was well attended by more than 100 delegates comprising of both Government and Industry representatives in every webinar session. Topics shared included:

• Sharing of practical experience on GHS Implementation Practices and Mutual Acceptance from:

o Vinachemia, Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) of Vietnam
o Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) of Philippines
o Accord Australasia of Australia
o Responsible Care New Zealand

• Sharing of experience on the use of ASEAN Prioritization Screening Tool by Philippines and Thailand.

• Sharing of tools and databases from available resource to help countries who have limited data/information to kick-start their chemical management regulatory control efforts:

• • UNEP/ICCA learning tool on “Industrial Chemicals Databases and Information Sharing”
  • NITE-Gmiccs (GHS Mixture Classification and Label/SDS Creation System)
  • ASEAN-Japan Chemical Safety Database

ARCP Workshop

The annual workshop was held from 28 to 29 Nov 2022 as a hybrid set-up. As the country host for ARCP workshop 2022, Mr Terence Koh, Executive Director of the Singapore Chemical Industry Council (SCIC) welcomed all the delegates to the virtual workshop. This was followed by a sharing by Singapore Ministry of Trade & Industry (ASEAN division) on updates and key developments of ASEAN Economic Community in 2022 including the entry-into-force of the regional comprehensive economic partnership (RCEP), launch of the ASEAN trade in goods arrangement (ATIGA) upgrade, commencement of ASEAN-Canada FTA (ACAFTA) negotiations, substantial conclusion of the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand FTA (AANZFTA) upgrade, launch of the ASEAN-China FTA (ACFTA) upgrade, launch of the review of the ASEAN-India trade in goods agreement (AITIGA) and expansion of ASEAN Single Window (ASW).

The ARCP Virtual Workgroups VWG also took the opportunity to engage the AMS including both regulator and industry delegates in breakout discussions, covering the following:

New Substance Notification (NSN)

• The AMS delegates were further engaged through breakout case studies discussion to solicit their comments and feedback that will be insightful to help the NSN VWG members in shaping the content of the guidance document to be developed. This will ensure that the guidance document to be developed will be fit-for-purpose for use in ASEAN.

Chemical Risk Assessment (CRA)

• The AMS delegates were updated on the monumental progress made in the development of the ASEAN guidance document on CRA including a recap on the objective and outline of the CRA guidance document to be developed, knowledge on the CRA process with reference to a case study example. The breakout session provided the delegates an opportunity to have a hands-on experience on gathering and evaluating hazard data from public available sources through group exercise.

Globally Harmonised System (GHS)

• An update on the concept notes by APEC CD which are related to GHS were shared with the AMS delegates. The breakout exercise has allowed the AMS delegates to have a further discussion on how the GHS implementation checklist can be used and how mutual acceptance principles can be approached. The inputs collected from the breakout sessions would be further discussed by the ARPC GHS VWG to further enhance the guidance document for practical implementation by AMS.

The other topics of interest which were discussed and shared at the workshop included:

• Strategic Approach to International Chemical Management (SAICM) – how ASEAN can be more involved in this voluntary framework by Ms Raleigh Davis of American Chemistry Council
• The development of EU proposal to UN GHS and the impact to other regions by Ms Liisi De Backer of European Chemical Industry Council
• Sharing best practices in EU on chemical emergency response that would be relevant for ASEAN region by Mr Giles Hobson of National Chemical Emergency Centre

As part of the programme, each AMS also shared the key updates and developments of emerging regulation. The effective AMS network of sharing has provided insights and valuable learnings through the experiences sharing.

With the hybrid setting of the workshop, the session has enabled more participation and saw an overwhelming attendance of more than 200 participants including both Government (various Ministries and Statutory Boards) and Industry representatives from the 10 AMS as well as ARCP partners and relevant stakeholders. These included members from ACCSQ members (ASEAN Consultative Committee on Standards & Quality), LARCF (LATAM) team who is overseeing the regulatory co-operation project in Latin America region,  KemI (Swedish Chemicals Agency), ACC, Cefic and JCIA.

Path Forward

Following the 2-days workshop, the ARCP organising committee held a brainstorming session with core team members to review the performance of ARCP in achieving its objectives, re-aligning the project’s key priorities and enhancing communication to further promote ARCP moving forward.

Enhanced regulatory cooperation in AMS will contribute to the solution to resolve the non-tariff trade barriers in the region as it allows better coordination; effective use of resources and better alignment of regulatory requirements and processes between trading partners.

Having a coherent regulatory environment allows the member states to export their products to the rest of the ASEAN with confidence. A harmonized framework with consistent requirements, standards and processes allows member states who have lesser resources and experience to enable the building of their foundation. This will support them in the faster adoption of regulatory framework and structure. This creates a stabilised regulatory environment, that is consistent with global standards, which is necessary for economic growth and social stability. This is also an enabler to facilitate trading with other regions.

In the course of co-operation efforts, it will provide an effective network where best practices and guidelines applied in other jurisdiction are shared for learnings and knowledge enhancement among regulators as well as industry members especially SMEs. Capacity building programmes and initiatives can be leveraged on to further build the knowledge and competency to help equip the regulators with the skillsets in setting chemical management regulatory policies and implementation plans in their countries.

The ARCP will continue its efforts towards achieving the official recognition of “Industrial Chemicals” as one of the new priority sectors in ACCSQ (ASEAN Consultative Committee on Standards and Quality). This will bring the level of awareness, recognition and commitment to drive harmonization efforts in chemical regulatory requirements as well as standards among AMS.

The provision of the guidance documents by the ARCP that will serve as relevant and useful resource references for ASEAN Member States (AMS) in their development stage of chemical management regulatory implementation. This further promotes the development of regulatory requirements that will eventually aligned among AMS.

Establishing an official platform through the endorsement on the formation of ACCSQ Working Group on Industrial Chemicals will present as a key driver to enable the progressive transition from linear to a circular model towards building a sustainable economy for the future.

Contributed by:

ARCP Organising Committee

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