ITI Environmental Leadership Council. Latin America Update. Russell Fraker Madeleine Kadas Tiffany Carlson. March 13, 2018

Transcription

1 ITI Environmental Leadership Council Latin America Update Russell Fraker Madeleine Kadas Tiffany Carlson March 13, 2018

2 Trending Topics Chemicals EPR Packaging 2

3 Chemicals 3

4 GHS Hazard Classification Most uniformly adopt all GHS hazard classes Physical, environmental & health Health hazards drawn from international references (e.g., IARC) Mixture rule: constituent >0.1% (or >1.0%) confers its health hazard classification on the mixture May not incorporate UN Purple Book flexibility Adoption of GHS Brazil & Uruguay, 2009 Ecuador & Honduras, 2013 Argentina & Mexico, 2015 Costa Rica, 2017 Colombia & Chile, pending Un-harmonized scope of GHS requirements Industrial chemicals Chemical products not marketed to individual consumers Chemical products used in a workplace Chemical products in general Products in general (ill-defined scope) 4

5 GHS Hybrid Regulations Chile Hazardous Product Import Control Ministry of Health Resolution 408/2016 Expansion of pesticide import control regulation Scope: listed substances & their mixtures, including finished products,... that are health hazards under GHS classification Requires Health Ministry authorization to transport Applied by Customs at point of import (flagged by HTS codes) Costa Rica Hazardous Chemical Product Registration & Labeling Ministry of Health Decrees 40457/2017 & 40705/2017 Modeled on pesticide registration regulation Scope: chemical products marketed to individual consumers... that are hazardous under GHS classification Requires prior registration of all hazardous chemical products Several unique label requirements 5

6 Proposed Chemical Registry Laws Brazil: Registry, Evaluation and Control of Industrial Chemical Substances Ministry draft bill developed over years by multi-agency & stakeholder working group Would apply to chemical substances manufactured/imported 1 ton/year, pure or in mixtures Would establish REACH-like registry of imports & production; government-run risk assessments Chile: Classification, Labeling, and Notification of Chemical Substances and Mixtures Ministry would create a GHS classification list for substances & mixtures Would require biannual notification of hazardous industrial substances & mixtures Would require manufacturers/importers to assess risks & propose risk management measures Colombia: Integral Management of Chemical Substances for Industrial Use Would require registration of industrial chemical substances prior to import Would require manufacturers/importers to assess risks & propose risk management plans 6

7 Pandora s Box Overreliance on GHS classification Assumption that stricter is better Inexperienced regulators À la carte drafting Enforcement via HTS codes Loose use of hazardous as a legal term Countryspecific approaches High aspirations / low capacity Ambiguous scope statements PROBLEM SUMMARY International standards spliced into local law Stringency bias Implementation gaps leave real law unclear 7

8 Brazil RoHS: Watch This Space Dec. 26, 2017: Ministry of Environment announces intent to create RoHS brasileira Requests manufacturer & importer input by Jan. 15, 2018 To cover all EEE: refrigerators to wristwatches 8

9 EPR 9

10 E-Waste EPR Laws in Latin America 10

11 Chile: Implementation of EPR Law General EPR & Recycling Law (No /2016) Registration & Reporting Regulation, June 1, 2017 Required all importers to register & report on prior-year sales & take-back of batteries by July 31, 2017, devices & packaging by September 30, 2017 Reported compliance rates: high for battery importers (>80%); low for other categories (~0.5% of importers of packaged products) Developing decrees to establish EPR performance criteria for priority products, beginning with used tires, batteries, containers & packaging Procedural Rulemaking Regulation, November 30, 2017 Process includes two public consultations for each EPR decree Transboundary Waste Movements Regulation still pending 11

12 Uruguay: New EPR Proposal Integral Waste Management Bill (Nov. 1, 2017) Special wastes : EEE, batteries, packaging, cars, tires, oils, others TBD Manufacturers / importers of covered products required to register Private EPR systems or public systems funded by the Specific Internal Tax (IMESI): 5% for EEE and other packaged products 20% for plastic wrap 1000% for certain single-use plastic items (% of either real value or ficto value set by government) 12

13 Brazil: Planned Obsolescence Bills House Bill 5367/2013 Would require suppliers of durable goods to inform consumers of products estimated useful life Approved by two committees, but rejected as non-justiciable House Bill 3903/2015 Would require suppliers of electronics and appliances to estimate products useful life and replace products that become useless or obsolete too soon Attached to a large bundle of consumer protection bills for eventual joint review House Bill 7875/2017 Would add the planned obsolescence of a durable good (relative to its estimated useful life ) to the list of prohibited abusive commercial practices (criminal offenses) in the Consumer Defense Code Under review by Committee on Economic Development, Industry, and Commerce; request for a public hearing has been granted, but not yet scheduled 13

14 Packaging 14

15 Global Pressure on Plastics UNEA-3 Resolution on Marine Litter and Microplastics (Norway) New Ad Hoc Open Ended Expert Group to identify the range of national, regional and international response options, including actions and innovative approaches, and voluntary and legally binding governance strategies and approaches Highlights role of plastic producers, consumer goods manufacturers and retailers, and transport sector Other international bodies and conventions likely to follow suit with resolutions and research programs Expect an array of legislative proposals to combat plastics pollution: substance restrictions, bans, EPR Discussion of possible global treaty #CleanSeas 15

16 Marine Litter Vital Graphics 16

17 Chile: Bills to Ban Single-Use Plastic Bags December 2017: Senate unanimously passed bill banning single-use plastic bags in 102 coastal towns and cities Related Chamber of Deputies bill would: Make the ban nationwide Establish standards for the designation Bioplastic Require single-use bags be certified and labeled Bioplastic Require all other plastic bags and product packaging to be labeled harmful (with explanation of impacts of plastics) 17

18 Brazil: Recycled Plastic Packaging Bill Chamber of Deputies Bill 8218/2017 Would set minimum recycled content limits for resin used to manufacture plastic packaging: Start at 12.5% Increase by 12.5% every 2 years until reaching 75% Would provide for a tradable credit system 18

19 Mexico: Biodegradable Plastics Bills Four similar bills introduced since early 2017: National Program for Replacement and Management of Plastics National Program for Replacement of Plastics and Expanded Polystyrene with Biodegradable Materials Elimination of Single-Use Plastic and Expanded Polystyrene Transition to the Use of Biodegradable Materials Would direct research programs to develop biodegradable materials to replace plastics Would require regulations to establish timetables and thresholds for the replacement of plastics in products and packaging 19

20 Questions? 20