The main legislations governing the chemical market in China is Order No. 12 of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE), Measures for the Environmental Management Registration of New Chemical Substances, also known as MEE Order No.12. This regulation came into force on 1 January 2021 and the previous regulation (MEP Order No.7) was simultaneously repealed.
In 2003 the former State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) published the first national-level regulation dedicated to new chemical management, SEPA Order No. 17, Measures on Environmental Management of New Chemical Substances. In 2010, this regulation was revised for the first time by the the former Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) that published it as MEP Order No. 7. The Inventory (IECSC) was first introduced under MEP Order No.7. Finally, in 2020 MEP Order No.7 was amended again by the Chinese Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) and MEE Order No.12 came into force.
MEE Order No.12 imposes registration obligations on new chemical substances which are not listed in the Inventory of Existing Chemical Substances in China (IECSC) and chemicals subject to new usage environmental management. Chemicals already under the management of other existing laws are exempted under MEE Order No.12. They include:
Also exempted are substances existing in nature such as natural polymers and biomacromolecules as well as substances of non-commercial purpose and unintentionally produced substances.