Brazil’s Senate approved a REACH-like chemicals management framework earlier this year. Following this, the Law 15.022 was published on the 15th of November 2024. This becomes Brazil’s REACH-inspired chemical management law.
This makes Brazil the largest country in Latin America to adopt such a framework, joining Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, and Peru. This move could inspire other nations within the region to follow suit.
The bill outlines the following provisions:
- Creation of a national register of chemical substances with the aim of establishing a national inventory of chemicals made or imported in Brazil.
- Producers and importers of chemicals to provide data on production, identification, and hazard classification of their substances.
- Assessing chemical risks.
- Prioritizing substances based on environmental and health criteria.
- A new technical committee will recommend substances for review, and risk management measures may include labelling, concentration limits, and restrictions on production or imports.
For the law to be fully operational, there are still some organisational steps that Brazil needs to take. This includes setting up the following committees:
- The Technical Committee for the Evaluation of Chemicals
- The Deliberate Committee for Chemical Substances.
Similarly, there is now a 180-day period allowing the government to publish the relevant implementing regulation. Within the next 3 years, the government will need to establish the IT system to house the Registration Platform to allow for the submission of registrations. It is anticipated that the IT system will be ready much sooner than this.
Companies in Brazil will have a further 3 years following the launch of the online registration system to register their substances on the inventory. Therefore, in terms of a timeline, this will be between 3 and 6 years (dependent on when the IT system is up and running).
We encourage companies who import to or export chemicals to Brazil to begin to consider whether they have obligations under this new law.
Overall, this legislation signals a significant step toward enhanced chemical safety and regulation in Brazil. For further information, please contact us at info@h2compliance.com.
Published December 3, 2024
Image generated with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence.