Industrial Chemicals Registering Law

A new REACH-like law on chemicals was published in Israel. 

Israel’s Ministry of Environmental Protection published a law entitled Industrial Chemicals Registering Law, 5781-2020.  It establishes a mechanism for registering industrial chemicals, similarly to the European REACH regulation. 

The law covers, among others, the following aspects: 

• establishes a Chemical Inventory Registry; 
• provides guidelines for performing risk assessment on selected chemicals 
• provides guidelines for conducting risk management by setting rules restricting the use of chemicals and or exposure to them 
• sets the authorities and power given to the registrar and to the Chemical Evaluation Advisory Committee 

The reason for the new law is that Israel has an extensive regulation relating to the practices, import, production, use, maintenance, and transportation of chemical substances which are, however, decentralized and allocated among various government ministries.  Moreover, they usually do not include a systematic assessment of the chemicals and their effects on humans or their environmental impact. 

The law is due to enter into force on 1 March 2023, and the establishment of the Chemical Inventory Registry should be completed and launched by 1 September 2024.