- Department:Chemicals Administration Ministry of Environment
On 2 June 2017, Premier Lin Chuan inspected the Toxic and Chemical Substances Bureau of the Environmental Protection Administration, Executive Yuan, which was established as an implementation of the first ring of President Tsai Ing-Wen’s Five-Defense Food Safety Promotion Policy to draw up a mechanism and focus on at-source control of toxic chemical substances. Through the inspection, the government showed its determination to control all toxic chemical substances from their sources and to build a sustainable environment with safe chemical substances by tracking the source and taking immediate action to protect food safety.
Food safety has become a major issue due to the multiple incidents that happened in recent years. In response, the government came up with a resolution, Five-Defense Food Safety Promotion Policy, and listed food safety as a priority for policy making in every government agency. Not only is the establishment of the Toxic and Chemical Substances Bureau a key implementation of the relative policies, the inspection by Premier Lin on 2 June also shows the importance the government places on food safety.
Premier Lin mentioned during the inspection that his goal is to achieve sustainable and green chemistry and to provide a safe and non-toxic environment for the citizens. Hence, he expects the Toxic and Chemical Substances Bureau to: properly manage the sources of chemical substances by cooperating with different ministries; prevent illegal practice by conducting professional and strict inspection; develop a risk assessment and communication mechanism; and keep up with international management trends. Premier Lin also expressed his appreciation to the personnel on the toxic disaster response team for taking the risks to stand on the frontline and protect the health and happiness of our citizens. Moreover, he specifically requested that the EPA minister give priority to supporting the personnel on the response team and ensuring their safety while carrying out their missions.
Chemical substances are widely used for convenience in daily life. However, chemical substances can cause serious harm to the environment and human health if they are misused or abused. The EPA established the Toxic and Chemical Substances Bureau for the goal of building a safe and sustainable chemical environment. To achieve that goal, the first step in the Toxic and Chemical Substances Bureau’s plan is to develop a management strategy for chemical substances according to the UN’s Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management.
Chemical substances for general use had been under separate management by different ministries, so all the relative information was in strong need of integration. Since source management is one of the Toxic and Chemical Substances Bureau’s jobs, the Chemicals Cloud was established to integrate data of chemical substances and to strengthen the cross-ministerial management. The Chemicals Cloud is not only beneficial when competent authorities are conducting inspections and comparisons, but it also provides warning service to prevent illegal use of chemical substances.
Figure: Five main points of the amendments to the Toxic Chemical Substances Control Act
To ensure food safety and the safe use of chemical substances, the Toxic and Chemical Substances Bureau has already started revising the Toxic Chemical Substances Control Act. The revision will expand the control list of chemical substances by examining the chemical substances that are for general use or are highly discussed internationally and then gradually adding the substances with potential harmful effects onto the control list. The first step is to strengthen the management of the chemical substances that are used illegally in food by making an announcement about regulating the chemical substances that have caused domestic or international food safety problems in the past 13 years. The announcement will be able to restrict businesses from the import, manufacture, sale, or use of those chemical substances and hence reduce the risk of illegal chemical substances in food.
To show its determination to control chemical substances at the source, the Toxic and Chemical Substances Bureau started promoting the Investigation and Guidance Plan for the Chemical Raw Material Industry from February 2017 and started the implementation on more than 2,000 businesses in May. The Toxic and Chemical Substances Bureau began the plan from establishing a basic database for toxic chemical substances, and accompanied it with four supporting guidance strategies including: investigating the flow of chemical substances, asking the buyers’ usage of the chemicals, storing chemical substances separately according to their toxic characteristics, and immediately reporting any violation. Furthermore, the Toxic and Chemical Substances Bureau partnered with local governments and chemical raw material business associations to conduct priority inspections on the 57 chemical substances that contain food safety risks. By providing on-site investigation and guidance, businesses could acquire the basic knowledge of chemical substances. Also, the EPA can better control the flow of chemical raw materials to avoid them being used illegally in food and harm public health.
Source: EPA Environmental Policy Monthly, p.4-6, Vol. XX, Issue 6, 2017
