Recent Developments
On 23 December 2023, the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change (“Ministry“) published the Regulation Amending the Regulation on Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (“Regulation“). The Regulation contains critical provisions regarding the postponement of deadlines for certain obligations, including the chemical registration obligation.
The Regulation is available here (in Turkish).
What does the Regulation introduce?
The main amendments introduced by the Regulation are as follows:
- If there is more than one registrant, issues related to the joint registration process, such as the lead registrant selection and cost sharing, will be determined within the framework of the procedures and principles to be published by the Ministry as a result of the studies to be carried out in cooperation with the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Türkiye (TOBB) and relevant institutions and organizations.
- All potential registrants, downstream users, third parties or registrants that have submitted a registration application before 31 December 2030 will be able to become Substance Information Exchange Forum (tr. MBDF) participants. The deadline for submitting a pre-MBDF to the Ministry will be determined in accordance with the procedures and principles to be published by the Ministry. In addition, each MBDF will continue to operate until 31 December 2032.
- The registration deadline for the following items has been postponed until 31 December 2026:
- Substances manufactured or imported individually, in a preparation, or in an article in an amount of 1000 tons or more per year;
- Substances manufactured or imported individually, in a preparation, or in an article in an amount of 100 tons or more per year, and in the Aquatic Acute 1 and/or Aquatic Chronic 1 (H400, H410) hazard category according to the Regulation on Classification, Labeling and Packaging of Substances and Mixtures;
- Substances manufactured or imported individually, in a preparation, or in an article in an amount of 1 ton or more per year, and classified as carcinogenic, mutagenic and/or toxic to the reproductive system Category 1A or 1B hazardous according to the Regulation on Classification, Labeling and Packaging of Substances and Mixtures.
- In addition, the registration deadline for (i) substances manufactured or imported individually, in a preparation, or in an article in quantities of 100 tons or more per year has been postponed until 31 December 2028; and (ii) substances manufactured or imported individually, in a preparation, or in an article in an amount of 1 ton or more per year has been postponed until 31 December 2030.
Conclusion
The deadline for compliance with many different obligations, such as the chemical registration obligation under the Regulation, has been significantly postponed due to the setbacks experienced in the chemicals sector regarding compliance with the relevant legislation. In addition, it is envisaged to determine the procedures and principles in cooperation with TOBB and relevant institutions and organizations in order to support sector stakeholders for compliance with the legislation, especially in cases where there is more than one registrant. The Regulation mainly aims to facilitate the compliance process of the companies operating in the chemicals sector and to ensure the registration of all chemicals placed on the market under the Regulation.
